MORGAN PARK — The block where Paul King lived was empty and quiet hours after King was shot and killed outside his home early Thursday.
There was no police tape, no curious bystanders and no children playing in Lamb Park, right across the street from the crime scene.
The only sound was the constant barking of a dog, locked in a house that neighbors said belonged to King, the 51-year-old man who was found unresponsive Thursday morning in the 1300 block of West 108th Place.
“The dog is just supposed to bark in this house?” neighbor Latoya Council said. “That’s animal cruelty.”
Police arrived at the scene around 1:20 a.m. Thursday and found King shot in his chest and back, according to Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago Police spokeswoman. He was pronounced dead on the scene, and police are still looking for his killer, Pacheco said.
In the meantime, Council said she and a few other neighbors were watching over King’s house and belongings. A front window in King’s house was covered in clear plastic held up with duct tape. The house has a for-sale sign on it.
“Ain’t nobody taking nothing until his kids come,” Council said Thursday morning.
King was the father of Elijah Dace, a 7-year-old who was shot and wounded in May, according to the Chicago Tribune. Dace was shot just a block south of where his father was found dead Thursday.
Elijah was at his father's house early Thursday afternoon. He was brought by his aunt and uncle — King's siblings — to collect some personal items. The family took the dog, and Elijah was seen loading a basketball, a Mickey Mouse doll and other belongings into his family's car.
"I'm shocked," said King's older sister, who would not give her name. "My brother was a good man."
Since Elijah was shot in May, Council said her neighborhood hasn’t been the same.
“We heard shooting over there and blocks away,” she said. “It never happened on this block. Now I just wanna go.”
King was known as a kind and caring neighbor, Council said. He was a local barber, and Council said he was always offering up his services.
“He was gonna cut my son’s hair today for free,” Council said. “He said, ‘When you get the money, you can pay me.’”
Now Council and her neighbors are hoping to return a little bit of the kindness King demonstrated. They said they will make sure King's house isn't burglarized now that it is vacant.
“I’m watching out for him cause that’s what he did for me,” she said.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
