CPD takes homicides very seriously and makes all efforts, utilizing all available tools at their disposal, to clear cases and bring some resolution to grieving families. "Chicago Police detectives continue to follow up on open cases by interviewing witnesses, investigating new leads, and monitoring DNA profiles. The Chicago Police Department provided the following statement: That sex workers, women who habitually use illegal drugs, there's a target on them," he said.
"Women in Chicago should be warned that they're being targeted. Hargrove hopes his research will help police find whoever may be involved in these cases.īut in the meantime, Hargrove has a warning.
"Because the chances are this is not the only time he has done this." "I hope and pray something will be done to just get him off the streets so he can't do it again," said Audry Blinstrup. The Cook County States Attorney's office reportedly decided not to extradite him. But, new DNA tests did confirm he was with her. The sisters were told that, in an interview with Chicago police, the suspect denied killing Williams or being in Chicago. The suspect was recently arrested in Tampa on a warrant for first-degree murder in Willliams' case. "I was relieved that we finally knew who it was," Sharon Pritchett said. DNA evidence matched a suspect who was convicted in Detroit in 1980 for armed robbery and again in 2014 for check fraud. Recently, Gwendolyn Williams' sisters were told Chicago police thought they found their sister's killer. CPD officials refused to do an on-camera interview. "We think its extremely likely that there are a common killer or killers in the Chicago as it was proven to be in Gary Indiana."īut the Chicago Police Department says, at this time, it has no actionable evidence of a pattern that would point to a serial killer. "We had total radio silence from those guys," said Hargrove. It's a pattern Hargrove pointed out to Gary police in 2010. He later confessed to murdering six other women in the Gary area. Ind., police proved accurate in 2014 after Darren Deon Vann was charged with strangling a 19-year-old prostitute in Hammond. " It's highly unlikely these 50 women were murdered by 50 separate men." "We absolutely believe that the recent killings are part of a continuing pattern," said Thomas Hargrove. "It makes it hurt more because you know somebody probably did this to her." "That's not fair, she's not trash, she's loved by many," Holyfield said. Ricardo is especially pained by the fact that his cousin's body was found in a garbage container. "It's like razor blades, it hurts even worse, " said Ricardo Holyfield, the victim's cousin. But, her body was too decomposed to definitely tell, so her cause of death is "undetermined" and the police classified it as a "suspended death investigation."įor Holyfield's family, not knowing adds to the pain of what happened. Holyfield's autopsy report says circumstances suggest "the death could have been a homicide" by asphyxiation. Chicago Streets and Sanitation workers found her in a garbage container near 525 W. Reo Renee Holyfield was also found dead in September of 2018, but her case is in limbo.