An elderly woman was found fatally stabbed after an apartment fire early Monday in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side.
Firefighters found the woman, thought to be in her 80s, in an apartment about 2:50 a.m. in a three-story building in the 5100 block of South Michigan Avenue, according to Fire Media Affairs.
The fire appears to have started in her first-floor apartment, where she was found with multiple stab wounds, authorities said.
She was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, according to Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford. The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed the fatality, but her name was not being released Monday morning pending notification of family.
A man, also thought to be in his 80s, was on the third floor when firefighters arrived. He suffered from smoke inhalation and was taken in serious-to-critical condition to the University of Chicago, Langford said.
“Smoke inhalation at that age is serious,” Langford said, adding the man appeared to be in “good shape.”
The fire was extinguished within 15 minutes. Langford said the cause of the blaze is thought to be suspicious in nature.
