Mary Watkins, 37, was found stabbed to death inside her home in the 8100 block of South Ellis Avenue in Chatham, on Chicago's South Side, on Monday, March 9, 2020. Area South detectives of the Chicago Police Department investigated, and the Chicago Sun-Times homicide tracker, which lists every homicide in the city, records her death as a homicide by stabbing.
According to police, Watkins was found about 6:57 p.m. that Monday, unresponsive with multiple stab wounds, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Community activist Andrew Holmes told ABC7 Chicago that she and her father kept in touch and talked regularly, and that he made the discovery. "When he hadn't heard from her in two days, he decided to come over here," Holmes said. "Upon making entry to her apartment, he discovered her body laying in the bedroom." How long she had been dead before she was found was not reported.
No one else was hurt.
Police said no one was in custody and asked anyone with information to call them. No description of a suspect, no weapon, no vehicle and no motive were made public, and it was not known whether there were any signs of forced entry. Neighbors who learned of her death said they had noticed police activity in front of the building that evening, and that not knowing who had done it, or why, had put them on heightened alert. No reward tied to her case appears in the public record.
Holmes said Watkins was not married, had no children and lived alone. Her father's habit of checking in on her is the clearest picture of her life in the public record. A Leak and Sons funeral home listing for a Mary Watkins, which appears to be hers, shows a funeral at St. Columbanus Church, at 71st Street and Calumet Avenue, on March 21, 2020, the day Illinois' COVID-19 stay-at-home order took effect.
Chatham is a long-established, largely Black middle-class neighborhood on the South Side, known for its tidy bungalows, apartment buildings and active block clubs. The 8100 block of South Ellis Avenue is a residential street where neighbors tend to know one another, and someone may have seen or heard a visitor at her building in the days before she was found.
Chicago recorded about 780 homicides in 2020, one of its deadliest years in decades, and police reported clearing roughly half of homicides in that era, though that figure counts some cases closed without charges. Her death came just as the pandemic was shutting the city down, and it received only brief coverage.
Her name is shared by many others, including a composer whose work includes an opera about Emmett Till, a psychologist and author, and a Boston legal professional. Searches for her name are dominated by them, which may help explain why so little about the 37-year-old Chatham woman has surfaced.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Mary Watkins 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 visited or spoke with her in the days before March 9, 2020, or who saw someone come or go from her building on South Ellis Avenue, may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a person seen running from 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).
