CHICAGO — A 16-year-old girl was stabbed to death in the Loop on Tuesday night, the third stabbing this week that Chicago police believe is linked to a large group of people who regularly loiter near the Harold Washington Library, according to a law enforcement source.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the murdered teenager as Heaven Taylor of the 8200 block of South Drexel.
Police said the female assailant stabbed Taylor twice in the chest during a fight at 59 West Van Buren around 11:28 p.m. While CPD said in a media statement that the attacker is unknown, a source offered conflicting information, saying she is well-known to officers in the Central (1st) Police District. She remains at large.
Shortly before the stabbing, workers at Taco Bell, 415 South Dearborn, called 911 to report up to a dozen people, some armed, pounding on the restaurant’s windows and threatening to attack an employee.
Officers responding to the Taco Bell call were flagged down by a witness to help Taylor.
The group that threatened the Taco Bell employees may be linked to the large group that beat and stabbed two people in the Loop on Saturday morning.
In a brief media statement over the weekend, CPD stated that the offenders stabbed a 29-year-old woman and a man of unknown age during an altercation in the 800 block of South Plymouth Court at around 4:11 a.m.
CWBChicago reported on Saturday that officers at the scene said about eight people known to hang out near the Harold Washington Library and a nearby Red Line station are responsible for the attack, but no arrests had been made.
The woman was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she underwent surgery for stab wounds on her head and neck. The nature of the man’s injuries is unknown, but CPD said both victims were in critical condition.
