A suspect has been apprehended and charged in connection with a gruesome incident that unfolded earlier this year on Chicago’s West Side. The individual is accused of shooting and killing a man, subsequently dismembering his body, and setting the house ablaze.
Deparris Slaughter, a 32-year-old from Munster, Indiana, faces charges related to the March 7 murder in the Lawndale neighborhood, as confirmed by Chicago police on Saturday.
Back in March, authorities announced that they were treating the death in a West Side house fire as both a homicide and an arson case. The tragic events took place at a residence on South Kirkland Avenue, situated between Cermak Road and Ogden Avenue.
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Police officers, alongside the Chicago Fire Department, responded to the scene just before 9 p.m. on March 7. Upon extinguishing the fire, firefighters discovered the lifeless body of a 68-year-old man inside the home. He was pronounced dead at the scene, marking the beginning of what would become an intensive investigation.
Officers and the Chicago Fire Department arrived at the Lawndale home on South Kirkland Avenue between Cermak Road and Ogden Avenue just before 9 p.m. on March 7.
Firefighters extinguished the flames and found a 68-year-old man inside the home, police said. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
The man’s cause of death was from gunshot wounds to the neck and chest, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Sources familiar with the investigation said in March that both of the victim’s arms and one of his legs had been severed.
Neighbors told ABC7 in March the victim rented the home and lived there with his two adult sons. They said the family was relatively new to the neighborhood and had only been on the block for the last two years or so.
Nine months after the crimes, Slaughter was identified as a suspect and was arrested Saturday in Burnham, Illinois, Chicago police said.
Slaughter is facing four felony charges: Murder – First Degree, Residential Arson, Dismembering a Human Body and Conceal Homicidal Death.
The suspect is set to appear in court on Monday.
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