CHICAGO — The boyfriend of a Chicago woman whose body was found over the weekend has been charged with concealing a homicide in connection with the death of Brittany Battaglia, who prosecutors said was found nearly decapitated inside a duffel bag in a Logan Square apartment.
Genesis Silva, 34, was ordered held without bond on Thursday after he appeared in court. Prosecutors said detectives found Battaglia’s body on Sunday night inside a duffel bag in Silva’s apartment in the 2000 block of North Kimball, which was where family members last reported seeing Battaglia two days earlier.
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The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Battaglia’s death a homicide and determined she had died from multiple sharp force wounds, saying her head had been “nearly severed,” according to court documents.
Battaglia was found dead on Sunday night, two days after she was last seen by her roommate. Prosecutors said in court on Thursday that Battaglia told her roommate that she was going to Silva’s apartment and then to a party. The apartment was only a block from where she lived, court documents said.
However, in the following days, neither Battaglia’s roommate nor her family could reach the 33-year-old woman, who had been in a dating relationship with Silva, according to documents. Battaglia’s roommate later learned that Battaglia never arrived at the party, and her family said she stopped sharing her location from her phone on June 1. Growing concerned, both her roommate and her brother, AJ, contacted Chicago Police to file a missing person’s report, court documents stated.
AJ Battaglia wrote on social media on Sunday night that detectives had told him they had found his sister’s body and that a suspect was in custody.
Police obtained a search warrant for the apartment after officers saw Silva leave his apartment on Sunday evening. Officers ordered the man back to his apartment after police stopped Silva’s vehicle. Once back in the apartment, police told Silva to remain outside while they secured the area as a crime scene, according to court documents.
However, Silva attempted to sneak back into his apartment, court documents showed, and police found two cell phones, two smaller pocketknives and an ice pick, according to court documents.
In addition to finding Battaglia’s body inside the duffel bag, officers also found a tarp inside the apartment’s kitchen with two garbage bags, court documents said. Inside the bags, officers found shoes, a bucket, a paint suit, black gloves, Clorox and a Swiffer.
According to documents, there were no visible signs of blood, but technology allowed detectives to find traces of blood on several of the items. In addition, investigators found crumpled pieces of paper, which included a list of cleaning supplies and a handwritten note that read, “Can you ask avg. time until smell etc.”
Investigators also found a machete inside a backpack that Silva had with him when he was ordered back to the apartment, documents showed. Technology showed that blood was found on the machete, and investigators said they found a second machete inside of Silva’s car.
Silva, who is a registered sex offender, was previously charged in 2009 with criminal sexual assault that was originally charged as attempted murder, the Cook County State’s Attorney said in charging documents.
In that case, prosecutors said that Silva and his then-wife got into a fight at a party that resulted in him choking the woman and saying repeatedly, “Why don’t you just die?” Documents said that he then opened a switchblade knife before sexually assaulting her, documents show.
Silva is scheduled to appear in court again on June 20.
