Curtiss Littrice, 59, was found beaten to death with a cord around his neck in an apartment in the 7800 block of South Laflin Street in Auburn Gresham, on Chicago's South Side, on the morning of Tuesday, September 8, 2020. He lived on the same block. The Chicago Police Department investigated his death.
According to police, a family member walked into the apartment and found him unresponsive. He had several bruises and lacerations to his face and body, and a cord around his neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:45 a.m. He had last been seen alive the day before, Monday, September 7, which was Labor Day. The Cook County medical examiner's office identified him, and autopsy results released the next day ruled his death a homicide.
A police spokesman could not provide more details on the circumstances of his death, and it was unclear whether there had been a break-in. No suspect description, motive, person of interest, public appeal or reward was announced.
FOX 32 and the Chicago Sun-Times both reported that no arrest had been made.
Little about Littrice's life has been made public. No obituary, funeral notice or family fundraiser could be found. What is known is that he lived on the same block where he was found and that a relative came looking for him, which suggests family who were close by and in regular contact. Those who knew him would know whom he spent time with in his last days.
The timing and the scene stand out. He was last seen on a holiday, and he was found the next morning both beaten and with a cord around his neck, signs of a prolonged and personal attack.
The 7800 block of South Laflin Street is in Auburn Gresham, a largely residential South Side community area of brick bungalows and two-flats near the 79th Street commercial corridor. Two months earlier, on the next block north, a 96-year-old woman was killed in a separate attack for which her grandson was quickly charged. Neighbors on Laflin may remember who came and went from Littrice's building over the Labor Day weekend.
Chicago recorded about 780 homicides in 2020, up from about 500 the year before. Police reported clearing roughly half of the city's homicides in those years, though those figures count cases closed without charges.
Old Chicago cases can still move. Rasheedah Beyah, 42, died in August 2020 of injuries from a 2019 beating in Park Manor; in March 2022, prosecutors charged a man with first-degree murder in her death.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Curtiss Littrice 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 saw or spoke with him on Labor Day 2020, or who noticed visitors, arguments or unusual activity at his building that night, 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).
