Antonio Lopez Jr., 58, was found dead in an alley in the 1500 block of West 63rd Street in West Englewood, on Chicago's South Side, on the afternoon of Friday, November 8, 2019. Police later described his killing as the November 7 stabbing, and said he was seen alive on video on the block that day. Area South detectives of the Chicago Police Department investigated.
According to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office, a witness found Lopez unresponsive in an alley with a laceration to his neck. Officers responded to a call of a man down about 1 p.m. and found him in the 1500 block of West 63rd Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy conducted that Saturday found that he died of "incised wounds of the neck," and his death was ruled a homicide.
On Sunday, December 29, 2019, police released surveillance images of a man they believed may be connected to the killing.
The man in the images was seen on November 7 with Lopez in the 1500 block of West 63rd Street, police said, and NBC Chicago reported that Lopez was found stabbed to death shortly after the images were captured. Police did not publicly describe the man beyond the photos. Anyone with information was asked to call Area South detectives at 312-747-8271. Four days after Lopez was found, another man in his 50s, Darwin Larkin, 59, was stabbed to death in a bedroom only blocks away, and Area South detectives investigated both deaths; police have not said whether the two killings are connected. No reward offer could be found.
Almost nothing about Antonio Lopez Jr.'s life has been made public. No obituary, funeral notice, memorial page or family fundraiser that clearly refers to the man who died on 63rd Street could be found. Antonio Lopez is one of the most common names in the country, and searches turn up police officers, students, an unrelated Chicago Heights man and many others, which makes it hard to find any trace of him.
The 1500 block of West 63rd Street lies just east of Ashland Avenue, where the CTA Green Line ends at the Ashland/63rd station. 63rd Street is a long commercial corridor, and the area around the station sees steady foot and bus traffic, which is why surveillance cameras captured the man police want to identify. Someone who rode the train, waited for a bus or worked nearby on November 7 or 8, 2019, may recognize 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 in the years from 2019 through 2023, though those figures count cases closed without charges. Surveillance images can only move a case forward when someone who recognizes the person in them comes forward.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Antonio Lopez Jr. could be found in news archives or public records. More than 6 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who recognizes the man in the surveillance images police released in December 2019, or who saw Antonio Lopez Jr. on 63rd Street that week, 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. Area South detectives can be reached at 312-747-8271. 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).
