A man sentenced to 18 years for viciously stabbing hotel employee in Loop
Gregory Bell, 45, has been handed an 18-year prison sentence after being found guilty of attempted murder and other charges for a brutal attack on a longtime employee inside a Loop hotel. The sentence was delivered by Judge Nicholas Kantas following a bench trial in May.
The incident took place at the Allegro Royal Sonesta Hotel located at 171 West Randolph Street in the early hours of May 29, 2022. The victim, a 56-year-old hotel employee with 20 years of service, was attacked by Bell while arranging bedding materials in a service area.
Bell, who was inside an elevator that opened behind the victim, initiated a conversation that the victim struggled to understand. Believing Bell needed assistance in finding a guest room, the employee escorted him to the fifth floor. However, without warning, Bell launched a vicious attack, stabbing the man multiple times in the back and head with a kitchen knife.
In a desperate struggle for survival, the victim managed to fight back and wrestle control of the knife from Bell. Three guests who witnessed the altercation intervened after seeing Bell choking the victim in the hallway with the bloodied weapon in hand. They quickly retreated to their room and called for help upon hearing the victim’s cries for assistance in Spanish.
The injured worker was able to seek refuge in a service area and secure the door while awaiting help. When law enforcement arrived on the scene, Bell was apprehended near the fifth-floor elevators, covered in blood and in possession of the knife. The victim was found crawling out of the service area and collapsed, sustaining critical injuries.
Despite the severity of the attack, the hotel employee survived the ordeal. Investigations revealed that Bell had attempted to rent a room at the hotel earlier that night using cash and without providing identification, but was refused by the front desk agent.
Prosecutors disclosed that Bell had a criminal history with seven prior felony convictions, all related to drug offenses.
