A 28-year-old woman told Chicago police that her landlord sexually assaulted her at gunpoint Thursday morning inside an apartment in the 8100 block of South Ellis Avenue. While the assault was underway, she spotted another woman lying motionless on a couch who she feared might be dead. That second woman, a 36-year-old who has not been identified, was later found dead in the same unit during a well-being check. A 58-year-old man described by police as a person of interest is being questioned, though no charges have been filed.
Tenant Reports Attack at Gunpoint
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a friend called 911 at about 9:20 a.m. Thursday to report the assault in the Chatham apartment, where the 28-year-old woman said her landlord sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. Police and OEMC reports indicate officers were alerted after a friend of the woman called 911. The tenant was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital for medical attention and a sexual assault kit, the outlet reported.
While the assault was underway, the woman told police she noticed another woman lying on a couch who she believed may have been dead. That detail prompted a well-being check at the Ellis Avenue address, per the same account. When no one answered the door, fire department crews breached the locked entry and found an unresponsive, unclothed 36-year-old woman covered in a sheet on a living-room couch.
Landlord Allegedly Walked Into Police Station
The article notes that the 58-year-old man identified as the landlord walked into the Grand Crossing police station, located at 7040 S. Cottage Grove Ave., and admitted to killing a victim by strangulation, according to a police report. The woman found dead at the Ellis Avenue apartment was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy was scheduled for Friday. As of Friday, she had not been identified.
No charges have been announced against the 58-year-old man, whom police have called a person of interest. He was being questioned by detectives on Friday, and Area 2 detectives are investigating the case, per the same source.
Case Unfolds Amid Mixed Citywide Trends
A separate review found that criminal sexual assault was the only major violent-crime category to rise in Chicago in 2025, climbing to a decade high even as overall violent crime fell to its lowest level in more than ten years, with 22,760 attacks reported, according to Illinois Policy Institute. Total crime in the city dropped from 257,558 cases in 2024 to 235,338 in 2025, the group reported, even as the arrest rate for criminal sexual assault fell from 4% to 2% over that same span.
Other recent cases have raised similar questions about how such allegations are handled after an initial police response. CWB Chicago reported that a man who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from attacks on two women on consecutive days in May 2024 was sentenced to six years in prison, after police had released him without filing charges less than a year earlier.
No further details about the identity of the 36-year-old victim, the cause of her death, or whether the 58-year-old man will face charges have been released. Area 2 detectives continue to investigate.
