Michael Adam Byrnes, 41, was stabbed to death in the 100 block of West Van Buren Street in the Loop, in the heart of downtown Chicago, on the night of Tuesday, September 6, 2022, the day after Labor Day. The Chicago Police Department investigated. The Chicago Sun-Times homicide tracker, which lists every homicide in the city, records his death as a stabbing.
Officers found Byrnes with multiple stab wounds at about 10:55 p.m., Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office said. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died. The attack happened on the same block as the Chicago Board of Trade Building and LaSalle Street Station, the Sun-Times noted. Police said no one was arrested. It was the second fatal stabbing downtown in two weeks.
Police released no description of an attacker, no account of what led to the stabbing and no information about whether Byrnes knew the person who attacked him.
No person of interest, surveillance image or reward tied to his death could be found. The earlier downtown stabbing, a road rage attack on West Ohio Street in River North on August 23, led to a murder charge within days; no similar announcement was ever made in his case.
Almost nothing about Michael Byrnes's life has entered the public record. An online tribute page hosted by Krueger Funeral Home for a Michael A. Byrnes, 1981 to 2022, whose dates fit his age, drew memorial messages in September 2022, but it gives no details of his life. No family statement, news profile or fundraiser could be found. Other men named Michael Byrnes, including an archbishop and a retired Army general who died in other states, are not connected to this case.
The 100 block of West Van Buren Street runs through the financial district at the south end of the Loop, between the Board of Trade at LaSalle Street and the commuter rail station beside it. Even late at night the block sees commuters, security guards, rideshare drivers and people waiting for trains, and someone who was there that Tuesday night may have seen the attack or the person who left the scene.
Chicago recorded about 720 homicides in 2022, down from about 800 in 2021, which had been the deadliest year in a quarter century. Chicago police reported clearing roughly half of the city's homicides in those years, though those figures count cases closed without charges. Killings downtown are rare compared with the city's South and West sides, and a fatal stabbing on one of the Loop's best-known blocks drew notice, but little was reported afterward.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Michael Adam Byrnes 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 was near LaSalle Street Station or the Board of Trade that night, or who knew Michael Byrnes and where he was headed, 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).
