30-year-old woman strangled in Chicago garage; suspect charged

CHICAGO (CBS)-- A woman found dead inside a garage in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on Monday was strangled.

A person was taken into custody Wednesday in connection with the crime. Lawrence Boyle, 63, was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and was due for an initial court appearance on Friday.

The woman, identified as 30-year-old Sierra Jamison, was found unresponsive in the 7800 block of South Indiana Avenue just before 7:30 p.m. Monday. She was pronounced dead on the scene. CBS 2's Marissa Perlman reported it was her own mother who found her body.

The Medical Examiner listed Jamison's cause of death as strangulation. 

Jamison was a mom to a 6-year-old boy with autism.

Coincidentally, CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker interviewed Jamison last month during a story about violence against Black women. Jamison was the recent victim of a carjacking. 

She shared with CBS 2 how hard she worked to care for her family. She said she was not going to let the carjacker take anything away from her. 

"I know how many sacrifices I've done for my family, my son, because he's been through a lot," Jamison said. "My son had open-heart surgery. He has a disability, so he means a lot to me, and I'm not fixing to let this young man – with a knife at that – take anything I work hard for away from me."

On Wednesday evening, her son and entire family were dealing with the horrible loss. But the victim's aunt, Sadina Jamison, expressed relief at the fact that a person has been arrested.

"We are honoring her legacy. We are honoring her life. But today, we have a victory, because this person has been caught," she said. "He is currently in custody, so yes, we can celebrate with a little bit of peace."

The victim's aunt said the man who was arrested was someone Jamison considered a friend.

"This is someone she was comfortable around," said Sadina Jameson. "This is someone she trusted so she had no reason to fear."

Jamison's family held a balloon release and vigil Wednesday evening in the West Garfield Park neighborhood.