Adrian Herman, 44, was stabbed in the 7500 block of South Colfax Avenue in South Shore, on Chicago's South Side, late on the morning of Saturday, August 31, 2019, at the start of the Labor Day weekend. He died two days later, on Monday, September 2, Labor Day itself. He lived on the same block where he was attacked. The Chicago Police Department investigated.
According to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office, Herman was stabbed in the chest and in the eye about 11 a.m. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he survived for two days before he was pronounced dead on September 2. An autopsy released the following day, Tuesday, found that he died from his stab wounds, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
No one else was reported hurt.
Police said the stabbing was domestic in nature, a label they use when the victim and the attacker are believed to know each other through family, a relationship or a shared household. Even so, no one was in custody by Tuesday evening, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Police did not release a name, a description of the attacker, a vehicle or a motive, and no later appeal for information, arrest announcement or reward offer tied to his death could be found.
An obituary published by McCullough Funeral Home in Ford Heights on September 14, 2019 gives his full name as Adrian Loveone Herman Sr. It says he was born on November 26, 1974, in Chicago, to Harrell and Sharon Herman-Dotson, which matches his age, and it names survivors including Adrian Herman Jr., Tiffany Herman and Kavonda Russell. He was a father whose son carries his name, and his family laid him to rest about two weeks after he died. Beyond the obituary, few details of his work or life have been published.
South Shore stretches along the lakefront on the South Side, with blocks of brick apartment buildings, courtyard buildings and single-family homes. The 7500 block of South Colfax Avenue sits a short distance from 75th Street. A stabbing at 11 a.m. on a holiday weekend Saturday happened in daylight, when neighbors were likely to be home, outside or passing by, and someone may have seen the attack, heard an argument or seen the attacker leave.
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. Domestic killings often leave investigators with a person in mind, which can make a case with no charges all the more painful for the families left behind.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Adrian Herman 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. Neighbors on South Colfax Avenue, and anyone who knows who Adrian Herman was with on the morning of August 31, 2019, or who heard talk afterward about what happened, 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).
