Iman Khalil Alsarraj, 18, was found dead inside a home in the 6100 block of North Campbell Avenue in West Ridge, on Chicago's Far North Side, at about 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 1, 2023, at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The Chicago Police Department investigated. The Chicago Sun-Times homicide tracker, which lists every homicide in the city, records her death as an assault and beating.
Police said only that a female had been found dead inside the home. When the Sun-Times first reported the death the next day, her name and age were not yet known. The Cook County medical examiner's office found that she died of multiple injuries stemming from an assault and ruled her death a homicide. No one was in custody on Sunday, police said.
Little else has been released. Police have not said how she was attacked, who found her, whether she lived at the home, when the assault took place, or whether anyone else was there.
No suspect description, motive, person of interest or reward was announced in any coverage that could be found, and no later story reported an arrest or a charge.
Beyond her name, her age and the date of her death, almost nothing about Iman Khalil Alsarraj has been made public. No news story about her life, obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. She surely had family, friends and classmates who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Her age and sex stand out. Most homicide victims in Chicago in those years were men, and most were shot. She was a young woman of 18, found inside a home rather than on the street, and she died from the injuries of a beating. Police have not said whether she knew her attacker. Her name is also uncommon, so anyone who knew her would likely recognize it at once.
The 6100 block of North Campbell Avenue is a residential street of houses and apartment buildings a few blocks south of Devon Avenue in West Ridge. West Ridge is one of the most diverse communities in the city, and the Devon Avenue shopping strip nearby is known for its South Asian and Middle Eastern shops and restaurants. On the Saturday of a holiday weekend, many neighbors would have been at home or outdoors.
Chicago recorded about 620 homicides in 2023, down from about 720 in 2022 and about 800 in 2021, the deadliest year in a quarter century. 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. Most killings in those years were shootings, and deaths from stabbings and beatings often received only a few lines of news coverage before fading from view.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Iman Khalil Alsarraj could be found in news archives or public records. More than 3 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Iman, who saw her in the days before she died, or who noticed anything unusual on North Campbell Avenue around the start of that holiday weekend may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a person 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).
