Marvin Pierce, 31, was found stabbed to death in a bedroom of his apartment in the first block of North Parkside Avenue, near Madison Street and Central Avenue in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side, late on Friday, March 9, 2018. The Chicago Sun-Times homicide tracker records his death on March 10. The Chicago Police Department investigated.
His roommate walked into their home just before 10 p.m. and found him lying in a bedroom with multiple stab wounds to his body, according to Chicago police. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:07 p.m. No one else was reported hurt. ABC7 Chicago reported that he had been stabbed multiple times, and the Cook County medical examiner's office identified him the next morning.
No one was in custody on Saturday morning, and police said a motive was not immediately clear.
In the coverage found for this account, police did not release a description of a suspect, say whether anything was taken or whether there were signs of a forced entry, or announce a reward. The roommate who found him was not described by police as a suspect.
Little about Marvin Pierce's life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family statement naming him could be found. His name is shared with many other people, including a businessman who died in 1969 and a pioneering Oregon librarian named Cornelia Marvin Pierce, which fills search results with people who have no connection to the man who died in Austin and may help explain why his story has been so hard to follow.
The first block of North Parkside Avenue sits in South Austin, just north of Madison Street, a busy commercial corridor, and a block from Central Avenue. Austin is Chicago's largest community area by population, on the city's western edge next to Oak Park, and apartment buildings line many of its blocks. Building residents, neighbors and people on Madison that Friday evening may have seen someone arrive at or leave the building.
Chicago recorded about 580 homicides in 2018 and about 500 the following year. Most were shootings; deaths from stabbings, like this one, made up a much smaller share. Chicago police later reported clearing roughly half of the city's homicides, though those figures count cases closed without charges.
Old cases can still move forward. Brandon Porter-Young, an 18-year-old Whitney Young High School senior with autism, was stabbed to death at a West Side hotel on February 2, 2018. Nearly a year later, in January 2019, Chicago police charged a man with murder after DNA evidence linked him to the killing.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Marvin Pierce could be found in news archives or public records. More than 8 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who visited the apartment on North Parkside that Friday, who spoke with Marvin Pierce in his last days, or who saw someone leaving the building in the evening may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Chicago Police Department's anonymous tip line at (833) 408-0069 or submit a tip online at CPDTIP.com, or contact Cook County Crime Stoppers at (800) 535-STOP (7867).
