Man dies day after Ashburn stabbing police call self-defense

A 23-year-old man died Tuesday after being stabbed the prior morning in the Ashburn neighborhood on the South Side.

Derion Smith was fighting with a 21-year-old man about 2:10 a.m. Monday in the 8000 block of South Pulaski when the younger man stabbed Smith in the neck with a knife, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Smith was taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. An autopsy Wednesday found he died of the stab wound, and his death was ruled a homicide.

A 25-year-old woman who tried to break up the fight cut her finger was also taken to Christ Medical Center, where her condition was stabilized, police said.

The 21-year-old man was taken into custody and questioned, but later released without charges after an investigation indicated he acted in self-defense, police said.