Raul Aguayo, 27, was stabbed to death during a fight with a relative in the 4500 block of South Hermitage Avenue in Back of the Yards, part of the New City community area on Chicago's South Side, on the evening of Friday, November 15, 2019. He lived on the same block. Area Central detectives of the Chicago Police Department investigated.
According to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office, Aguayo was arguing with a family member at 8:02 p.m. when the fight turned physical. During the struggle, he was stabbed in the chest and abdomen. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy the next day, Saturday, found that he died of multiple stab wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide. Police described the killing as domestic-related.
A 43-year-old man was taken into custody that night, police said. The Chicago Tribune reported that police did not share the man's relationship to Aguayo.
No charge against him was ever announced, and no court case connected to the death could be found. It is not publicly known whether the man was released, whether he claimed he acted in self-defense, or whether prosecutors reviewed the case. No suspect description beyond his age, no motive for the argument and no reward offer were made public.
An obituary posted on Dignity Memorial says Raul Aguayo was born on May 30, 1992, in El Monte, California, and died on November 15, 2019, in Chicago, matching his age and the date of his death. His funeral arrangements were handled by a Reyers funeral home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, far from where he died. Beyond that, few details of his life, his work or the people closest to him have been published, and his name is shared by others in California and elsewhere who appear in search results.
The 4500 block of South Hermitage Avenue lies a short walk from Ashland Avenue in Back of the Yards, a neighborhood named for the Union Stock Yards that once stood just to the north and home today to many working families, a large share of them Mexican American. Houses and two-flats sit close together, and on a Friday evening neighbors may have heard the argument, seen the struggle, or seen who left afterward.
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 within a family can be among the most painful for relatives, who may be torn between grief and loyalty to the person accused.
No criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Raul Aguayo could be found in news archives or public records; a 43-year-old man was taken into custody the night of the stabbing, but no public record shows that he was charged. More than 6 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Neighbors on South Hermitage Avenue, and anyone who knows what led to the fight that evening, 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).
