Dimas Yanes Sentenced To 16 Years For Lowell Stabbing Of 13 Year Old
Dimas Gabriel Yanes, 27, was sentenced to 16 years in the Indiana Department of Correction after pleading guilty to aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony, in a Lake County case involving the stabbing of a 13-year-old girl at a youth baseball game, according to court records.
The sentence was imposed December 19, 2025, in Lake Superior Court and is ordered to be served consecutively to a separate sentence previously imposed in the State of Georgia, court documents state.
Court records show the case stemmed from an incident on August 31, 2024, at the Lowell VFW baseball fields in Lowell. According to the stipulated factual basis filed with the court, the victim was attending a little league baseball game when Yanes approached her while armed with a knife and attempted to stab her in the chest. The victim blocked the attack with her hand, sustaining lacerations to her index and middle fingers that required medical treatment and stitches.
Yanes gave a statement to police saying, “I came to the United States in 2022 from Honduras through Texas. I got rides to Colorado and took a train to Chicago. I knew that I was in between Chicago and Indiana.” He stated that it was a female that he believed to be a minor that he caused harm to. Yanes said, “I only pointed it toward her and she stopped it with her hand and I saw her facial expression on the female that I caused harm to that made him feel uncomfortable.” “What I did was not intentional,” Yanes said. “Someone was following me and telling me to do it.”
“Since being deported to Honduras in 2018, Mr. Yanes reentered the United States illegally and committed crimes in at least 5 states – Nassau County, New York, Madison County, Illinois, Cobb County, Georgia, Williams County, Ohio and Lake County, Indiana. His criminal history includes battery, trespassing, intoxication, attempted burglary and now attempted murder. During the weekend search for Yanes, police received intelligence that he had been classified as a risk to law enforcement officer safety and to national security due to documented ties to international gang MS-13,” Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez said.
The court accepted Yanes’ guilty plea to Count II: Aggravated Battery, and pursuant to the plea agreement, the State moved to dismiss the remaining charges, including attempted murder, battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person under 14, battery by means of a deadly weapon, and intimidation, court records show.
During sentencing, the court found multiple aggravating circumstances, including the significant harm suffered by the victim, Yanes’ prior criminal history, a recent violation of pretrial release, and the nature and circumstances of the offense, which the court described as “gruesome in execution, heinous overall and shocking to the conscience of any reasonable person.” The court also cited conflicting statements and found the crime was committed knowingly and intentionally.
The court identified mitigating factors, including Yanes’ mental health status and his admission of guilt through the plea agreement, but ultimately found the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigators.
As part of the sentence, Yanes is subject to a no-contact order prohibiting contact with the victim for the duration of his sentence. The court also advised that due to the felony conviction, Yanes has lost the right to possess firearms or ammunition, and any future possession would constitute a new criminal offense.
Court records indicate Yanes was given credit for time served in the Lake County Jail from September 1, 2024, through December 18, 2025, and the court waived fines and costs after finding he did not have the ability to pay.
