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Morgan Park Man Stabbed to Death By Son, Police Say

By Erica Demarest | March 24, 2013 9:46am | Updated on March 25, 2013 6:56am
 A scrap of police tape still hangs in the 11400 block of South Rockwell Street, where a man stabbed his father to death Sunday, police said.
A scrap of police tape still hangs in the 11400 block of South Rockwell Street, where a man stabbed his father to death Sunday, police said.
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DNAinfo/Erica Demarest

MORGAN PARK — A 24-year-old man fatally stabbed his father Sunday during an early morning dispute, authorities said.

Kenneth Johnson, 49, was arguing with his son in his home in the 11400 block of South Rockwell Street about 2:45 a.m. when the stabbing occurred, said Officer John Mirabelli, a police spokesman.

Both men were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where the son was treated for wounds sustained during the fight, Mirabelli said. Johnson was pronounced dead at 3:50 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

Neighbors on the quiet residential street — "full of police, fire and trade people," one man said — expressed shock Sunday.

"It's the first murder probably ever in this area — at least on this block," said Darrell Sala, who has lived on Rockwell since 1954.

Nefertiti Gathing said she heard young people — "two guys and a girl" — walking in the street and talking sometime before 3 a.m. The next thing she knew, police cars and ambulances flooded the block.

Most neighbors interviewed said they woke up about 3 a.m. when they heard first responders or saw police lights. No one heard the argument that led to their neighbor's death.

"He was a really nice guy; it sucks," Gary Huizar said. "He had a snow blower, and he would snow-blow everyone's sidewalk for us."

Sala said Johnson's house has been a rental for at least a decade, with new residents every few months or years.

By Huizar's estimates, Johnson lived there with a female companion for two years; his son had joined the pair in the last four to six months.

Huizar never noticed animosity between the two.

"I actually saw them talking by the son's car recently," Huizar said, pointing to a vehicle parked on the street. "They were laughing. It looked like they were OK.".