Walter Nelson, 58, was stabbed to death in the 5800 block of South Ada Street in Englewood, on Chicago's South Side, on the afternoon of Monday, November 8, 2021. The Chicago Police Department investigated his death.
According to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office, Nelson was stabbed in the abdomen about 3 p.m. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died. The reports did not say whether he was attacked indoors or outside, whether there was an argument first, or whether anyone else was hurt.
A 61-year-old man was arrested in connection with the stabbing, but he was later released without charges, according to police, who did not share more information. The man was not named, and police did not describe his relationship to Nelson. No later charge in the case could be found, and no reward tied to it was announced.
Little about Walter Nelson's life has been made public.
Leak and Sons, a South Side funeral home, posted an obituary page for a Walter Nelson with a wake and funeral on November 21, 2021, less than two weeks after his death, which appears to be his. Walter Nelson is also a common name, shared by many other men in Chicago and across the country, which makes it harder to trace the man who died on Ada Street.
His case stands out because a suspect was in custody within days. A release without charges usually means prosecutors did not think the evidence at that point was strong enough to approve a charge. It does not mean the question was settled, and a witness who comes forward later can still make a difference.
The 5800 block of South Ada Street is in Englewood, a largely Black community on the South Side that has lost much of its population over the past several decades. Ada Street is a residential block of houses and two flats, close to Garfield Boulevard and the commercial corridor on Ashland Avenue. At 3 p.m. on a weekday, neighbors, passersby and children coming home from school may have seen the attack or the people involved.
Chicago recorded about 800 homicides in 2021, the deadliest year in the city in a quarter century, after about 780 in 2020. 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, so the share of killings that led to a criminal case was lower.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Walter Nelson could be found in news archives or public records. More than 4 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who saw what happened on South Ada Street around 3 p.m. on November 8, 2021, or who knew Walter Nelson and the man he was with, 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).
