The family of a woman whose severed head was found in a lagoon in McKinley Park on the South Side earlier this year is struggling to come to terms with her death.
So far, only the head of 20-year-old Quesola Mimms has been recovered and, as a result, her family has been unable to arrange funeral services.
Community activist and crisis responder Andrew Holmes, speaking only steps from the lagoon where her head was found, told reporters Wednesday that a $2,000 reward is being offered for information that will lead to her killer’s arrest and conviction.
“The family is very upset because they have to make funeral arrangements after her severed head has been released to the family, and the rest of her body parts are not with her,” said Holmes, who was flanked by community activists as he spoke on the banks of the lagoon.
“You are cruel. You are not human,” Holmes said in reference to Mimms’ killer.
The press conference was held less than 24 hours after Chicago Police announced charges against Kamel Harris in the murder and decapitation of 2-year-old Kyrian Knox, whose head and other body parts were found in the Garfield Park lagoon in September 2015.
Mimms’ head was found in a bag by a park district worker about 10 a.m. on Sept. 23, authorities said at the time. Her last contact with her family was on Sept. 21.
Holmes said that, based on the condition her head was in, it’s likely that it wasn’t in the lagoon for more than a day or two.
According to Chicago Police, no missing person report was ever filed for her, though Holmes said her family maintains that one was filed.
Holmes said Mimms had a 1-year-old daughter when she was killed and the child often asks where her mother is. The girl now lives with her grandmother.
At the time of her disappearance and death, Mimms was slated to start a new job in a factory, according to Holmes.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office released her identity Wednesday.
Though the lagoon was drained after Mimms’ head was found, none of her other body parts have yet been recovered. At the time of the press conference, it was apparent that the lagoon’s water level had not yet returned to its previous depth.
But other human remains, packaged by a funeral home, were found in the lagoon, Holmes said.
According to a police source, Mimms filed a police report on Sept. 12 for criminal damage to property, though the incident was not thought to be violent or domestic-related.
Holmes asked anyone with information about her death to call Area Central detectives.
Contributing: Jordan Owen
