Djuan Mays, 38, was found stabbed to death inside a trash can in the 8300 block of South Emerald Avenue in Auburn Gresham, on Chicago's South Side, on the evening of Friday, September 13, 2019. Area South detectives of 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, authorities found Mays with stab wounds to his neck in a trash can about 5:25 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy released the next day, Saturday, found that he died of a stab wound to the neck, and the Cook County medical examiner's office ruled his death a homicide. The killing was not reported in the Sun-Times until the following Monday, September 16, three days after he was found.
Police did not say who found him, how long he had been in the trash can, whether he was killed there or placed there afterward, or whether anything was taken from him.
No suspect description, vehicle, motive or person of interest was released, and no later appeal for information or reward offer tied to his death could be found. The fact that his body was found in a trash can points to someone trying to hide what had happened, but police have not said publicly what they believe took place.
Beyond his name, his age and the circumstances in which he was found, almost nothing about Djuan Mays has been made public. No news story about his life, obituary, funeral notice, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found. His first name has an unusual spelling, and people-search sites list a Djuan Mays in Chicago, but none of that tells us who he was to the people who loved him. He surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember him, and the day he was found, a Friday the 13th, may stay with them.
The 8300 block of South Emerald Avenue is a residential street in Auburn Gresham, a South Side community of brick bungalows and two-flats, with busy commercial corridors along 79th Street and Halsted Street nearby. Trash cans sit in alleys and along the curbs, used every day by residents and emptied by city crews. Someone who took out garbage, walked down the alley or noticed a stranger near the cans in the hours or days before he was found may hold an important piece of the story.
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. Cases in which a victim is found hidden, with no witness to the attack itself, are among the hardest for detectives to solve.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Djuan Mays 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 saw Djuan Mays in the days before September 13, 2019, or who noticed unusual activity near the trash cans on South Emerald Avenue, 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).
