Dimas Gabriel Yanes, 27, was sentenced to 16 years in the Indiana Department of Correction after pleading guilty to aggravated violence, a Level 3 felony, in a Lake County case involving the stabbing of a 13-year-old girl at a youth baseball game, court documents show.
According to court documents, the sentence was imposed on December 19, 2025, in Lake Superior Court and is to be served consecutively to a different sentence earlier imposed in the state of Georgia.
According to court records, the incident occurred on August 31, 2024, at the Lowell VFW baseball fields in Lowell. According to the stipulated factual foundation submitted to the court, the victim was at a little league baseball game when Yanes approached her carrying a knife and attempted to stab her in the chest. The victim prevented the attack with her hand, resulting in lacerations on her index and middle fingers that required medical attention 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 the State moved to dismiss the remaining charges, including attempted murder, battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person under 14, battery with a deadly weapon, and intimidation, according to court records.
During sentencing, the court noted several serious factors, such as the victim’s severe injuries, Yanes’ past criminal record, a recent breach of his pretrial release, and the overall shocking nature of the crime, which the court called “gruesome, heinous, and disturbing to any reasonable person.” The court also took into account contradictory statements, concluding that Yanes committed the crime with knowledge and purpose.
The court considered mitigating considerations, including as Yanes’ mental condition and his admission of guilt via the plea agreement, but eventually determined that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigators.
Yanes’ punishment includes a no-contact order, which prohibits him from contacting the victim for the remainder of his term. The court also stated that Yanes has lost the ability to carry firearms or ammunition as a result of the felony conviction, and any future possession would be considered a new criminal offense.
According to court records, Yanes was awarded credit for time served in the Lake County Jail from September 1, 2024 to December 18, 2025, and the court waived penalties and costs after determining that he was unable to pay.