Man dies after being stabbed in suspected road rage incident in River North, driving a few blocks to Magnificent Mile
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 36-year-old man is dead after being stabbed in River North and driving a few blocks until his car stopped on the Magnificent Mile Tuesday evening.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, it all happened at the height of rush hour around 6:45 p.m. The chain of events ended in the middle of the street on Michigan Avenue near Ontario Street and the Burberry store – but it began several blocks to the west at Ohio and Dearborn streets.
Late Tuesday at the latter intersection, police had set up a barrier around a bloody black sandal that was left sitting in the street. A squad car remained at the scene a day later.
Police said a man identified by family as Jeremy Walker was stabbed in the neck after some kind of fight with another person. At a news conference Wednesday evening, Chicago Police Deputy Chief Jill Stevens said the fight was a road rage incident, in which two drivers got out of their car.
One of the drivers took out a knife and stabbed the other -- identified by family as Walker -- in the neck, Stevens said.
Walker then got behind the wheel of a blue Kia and tried to find help.
Calls to 911 came in from people on the street who saw the badly injured driver.
The blue Kia ended up in the median on Michigan Avenue, where Walker flagged down officers. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died Tuesday evening.
CBS 2's Sabrina Franza spoke Wednesday with Walker's loved-ones, who would do anything to be there for him in those final moments.
Walker left behind a 12-year-old boy, Jaylen.
"They just took a really good man from us for no reason," said Walker's longtime girlfriend, Jessica Evans.
Evans had known Walker since 2005. They met in high school – and first became friends, then something more.
"To know him was to love him," Walker said.
Walker was on his way to pick Evans up from work Tuesday evening. He never showed up.
"I just texted him to let him know, 'Hey, I'm ready – you can be on your way; like you don't have to wait until 7 o'clock. He responded to the message and said, 'OK,'" Evans said, "and I just sat around and waited for him."
An hour and a half went by. During that hour and a half, Walker was stabbed in the neck – but Evans, of course, did not know that at the time.
Calls and texts to Walker went unanswered, so Evans tracked down his phone. After she figured out where the phone was, she walked up on her worst nightmare.
That track led her right to the crime scene, where she found her abandoned Kia – but no Walker.
"I essentially walked up on the scene of my car and the police officers," Evans said.
By the time Evans got to the hospital, it was too late.
She said she was told, "I would not be allowed in the building, and that our family needed to contact the coroner's office."
Walker was by himself when he died, Evans said. She and other loved-ones of Walker's are now begging for answers.
"Why didn't nobody say anything? Like, I had his ID on him. He had his cell phone on him. I was calling him. His son was calling him. His mom was calling him," Evans said. "They took a good person. He was a good brother, and a good son, and a good father."
Police have not released further information about what happened, except that a quarrel started the chain of events. They also have not released photos of anyone involved – or provided a description.
No one was in custody Wednesday afternoon. Area Three detectives are investigating.
