BRONZEVILLE — Nellie Keys, 76, still sits and listens to the voice of her dead twin brother who died March 9 after a brutal attack in Bronzeville.
“My mother still has voicemail messages that he left her and she’s saving them,” Deidre Keys said. “And we listen to them often. She has her days where she’s really, really down because that’s all that’s left and they were so close.”
Attacked just blocks away from his Bronzeville senior home, Frankie Baity, 76, made it back to his home despite broken ribs and bites on his fingers. His assailant attacked him for just $10.
Baity’s niece, Deidre Keys, said someone saw blood on her uncle’s coat at the home and called an ambulance.
Three days later, he was dead from heart disease, complicated by multiple injuries due to assault, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
At first, it looked like Baity might recover. He was admitted at Mount Sinai Hospital and was sent home that same day.
“My mom, my brother, and my sister went over there and he said that he was okay,” Keys said.
But the next morning, Baity complained of intense pain and his family took him to Sacred Heart Hospital. From there, his condition worsened, and he was pronounced dead Monday morning.
Even though he was coherent enough to talk with family, Keys said Baity did not see his attacker and was unable to provide a description of the person.
No one has been charged in the case.
Baity visited his twin sister, Nellie Keys, every day, according to Deidre Keys. The 76 year old also made frequent trips to the store for the senior citizens in his building.
Keys said her uncle was a “force” in the family.
“How can I describe my uncle’s personality,” she said laughing. “He was an awesome uncle. He was the life of the party.”
Baity was a man with a strong connection to his family, according to Deidre Keys. After her own father passed away almost 20 years ago, Keys said Baity had been like a father to her.
“It’s very hard because we’re so used to seeing him,” the niece said. “And it’s hard for my mother because she was his twin and they definitely had that twin connection.”
Baity had lived 10 years in the neighborhood where he was attacked.
“Mostly everyone in that area knew him. He was well known. So, it was definitely a shock that somebody would assault him,” Keys said. “It angers us. We’re very angry that somebody would do that to someone.”
