Reginald Cox, 54, was found stabbed to death inside an apartment in the 6600 block of South Blackstone Avenue in Woodlawn, on Chicago's South Side, in the early hours of Wednesday, May 29, 2019. He lived on the same block. The Chicago Police Department investigated, and the Chicago Sun-Times homicide tracker, which lists every homicide in the city, records his death as a stabbing.
According to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office, a roommate walked into the apartment about 12:45 a.m. and found that Cox had been stabbed. Officers who arrived found him with a puncture wound in his neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene, so he was never taken to a hospital. An autopsy found that he died of multiple sharp force injuries, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. No one else was reported hurt.
On the evening of the killing, police said the circumstances of the stabbing were unknown.
The Sun-Times reported that there were no witnesses and that no one was in custody. Police did not release a description of a suspect, a vehicle, a possible motive or any person of interest, and no later appeal for information or reward offer tied to his death could be found. The public record does not say whether anyone forced their way into the apartment, whether Cox knew the person who attacked him, or whether a weapon was recovered.
Very little about Reginald Cox's life has been made public. A memorial page on the Never Forget Chicago site lists him among the city's homicide victims, noting that he was 54 and was killed in an apartment in Woodlawn. An obituary listing posted by Leak and Sons Funeral Homes shows services for a Reginald Cox at Messiah Temple Church, 10400 S. Halsted Street in Chicago, on June 22, 2019, with a wake at 10 a.m. followed by the funeral, about three weeks after his death. Searches for his name are crowded with other men named Reginald Cox, which may help explain why so little about him has surfaced.
Woodlawn lies just south of the University of Chicago and Hyde Park, between Washington Park and Jackson Park. The blocks of Blackstone Avenue there are lined largely with apartment buildings and two-flats, where neighbors live close together and share hallways, porches and back stairs. Someone in the building or on the block may have heard an argument, a struggle or a door closing in the hours after midnight, or may have seen someone leaving the area before the roommate came home.
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 in the years from 2019 through 2023, though those figures count cases closed without charges. Killings that happen indoors, late at night and without a known witness are among the hardest for detectives to solve.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Reginald Cox 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 visited the apartment on South Blackstone that night, who knew who Reginald Cox had been with in his last hours, or who saw someone leaving the building early that Wednesday 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).
