Darwin Larkin, 59, was found stabbed to death in a bedroom in the 6400 block of South Winchester Avenue in West Englewood, on Chicago's South Side, on the evening of Tuesday, November 12, 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, Larkin was found unresponsive about 7:10 p.m. by a tenant at the address. Paramedics arrived and found him with puncture wounds in his chest, police and the Cook County medical examiner's office said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy released the next day found that he died of multiple sharp force injuries, and his death was ruled a homicide. No one else was reported hurt.
No arrests were made.
The Sun-Times noted that only four days earlier, another man in his 50s had been fatally stabbed only blocks away: Antonio Lopez Jr., 58, found with a wound to his neck in an alley in the 1500 block of West 63rd Street on November 8. Area South detectives investigated both deaths as homicides, but police have not publicly said whether the two killings are connected. In Larkin's case, police did not release a suspect description, a vehicle, a motive or a person of interest, and no reward offer could be found. It is not known when he was last seen alive, how long he had been in the bedroom, or whether anything was taken.
Very little about Darwin Larkin's life has been made public. No obituary, funeral notice, memorial page or family fundraiser for the man found on South Winchester Avenue could be located, and no relative has spoken publicly about him. His name is not common, and the people who knew him, including the tenants who shared the building with him, would likely remember him well. He surely had family and friends who noticed when he was gone.
The 6400 block of South Winchester Avenue lies a few blocks west of Ashland Avenue and 63rd Street, on residential blocks of two-flats and frame houses with vacant lots between them. Because he was found inside a building with other tenants, someone who lived there, visited or passed by that day may remember a guest, an argument or a person leaving in the hours before 7 p.m.
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. Two stabbings of older men only blocks apart within a single week drew the attention of the Sun-Times, but neither case has been publicly closed.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Darwin Larkin 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. Tenants and neighbors on South Winchester Avenue, and anyone who saw Darwin Larkin with someone on November 12, 2019, 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).
