Phillip J. Robinson was stabbed to death in the 4900 block of West Erie Street in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side on the evening of Wednesday, February 13, 2019. The Sun-Times tracker lists his age as 30; the first news report said 31. He lived in the same neighborhood. The Chicago Police Department investigated, and Area North detectives were assigned to the case.
Robinson was found about 8:10 p.m. with stab wounds to his left arm and armpit, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:54 p.m. An autopsy the next day found he died of multiple sharp force injuries, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
Police did not release a description of a suspect, a vehicle or a motive, and the reports do not say whether he was attacked outside or indoors, whether he knew his attacker or whether anyone else was present.
No arrest was announced, no reward tied to his case could be found, and no follow-up story about the investigation appears to have been published.
An obituary posted by the Smith and Thomas funeral home describes a Phillip J. Robinson of Chicago who was born on October 3, 1988, to Laverne Robinson and Frank Robinson, which matches his middle initial and his age of 30. He died the day before Valentine's Day. Phillip Robinson is a common name, and searches are crowded with other men who share it, including several in unrelated Chicago court cases, which makes it harder to find more about the man who died on West Erie Street.
The 4900 block of West Erie Street sits just west of Cicero Avenue, a major north-south commercial street, in the eastern part of Austin. Austin, one of Chicago's largest community areas, is a neighborhood of brick bungalows, two-flats and apartment buildings along the city's western edge. At 8 p.m. on a weeknight, residents coming home and people at the stores and bus stops on Cicero may have seen him or the person who attacked him.
Chicago recorded about 500 homicides in 2019, down from about 580 the year before. Chicago police reported clearing roughly half of the city's homicides that year, though that figure counts cases closed without charges. Stabbings and beatings drew far less attention than the shootings that dominated the city's headlines, and many of them were reported in a few lines and never mentioned again.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Phillip Robinson could be found in news archives or public records. More than 7 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Phillip J. Robinson, who saw him on the evening of February 13, 2019, or who was near West Erie Street and Cicero Avenue that night 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).
