ROGERS PARK — A week after he was violently attacked in an elevator, Rogers Park resident Algie Ferguson, 61, died at St. Francis Hospital on Saturday, officials said.
His son, Randy Ferguson, said that though his father "fought for his life" while in the hospital, his father's age and physical state prevented him from recovering from the tremendous damage sustained during the attack.
"My dad, he was fighting for his life at the time," Ferguson said. "He was really trying to survive the horrific crime ... his body just wasn't strong enough to fight through all he went through at the crime scene."
Ferguson got the call about his father's attack around 1 or 2 a.m. Jan. 24, just hours after the assault, during a night out enjoying drinks with friends.
Algie Ferguson, of the 6800 block of North Sheridan Road, was in an elevator in the building where he lived around 11:45 p.m. on Jan. 23 with 45-year-old Phalyon McFarthing. An argument broke out, according to Officer Nicole Trainor, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.
McFarthing began to hit and kick Ferguson, and later sexually assaulted him, Trainor said.
Ferguson was taken to St. Francis in Evanston in critical condition with injuries to his head and lower body, Trainor said.
The younger Ferguson said his father knew McFarthing and had befriended him about five years ago when McFarthing, a homeless man, needed a place to stay. On the night of his murder, Randy said his father was letting McFarthing sleep at his apartment that he shared with his girlfriend so McFarthing could avoid the cold.
According to the police report, Ferguson had asked to borrow $20 from McFarthing that night and the pair went to a CVS to get the money.
After they returned, police said the girlfriend could hear a loud argument and scuffle coming from the hallway, after which McFarthing came into the apartment with bloodied clothes.
He told her Ferguson was trying to rob him, and left the apartment again.
The building manager called police, who upon arrival found an elevator stuck between floors propped open by a large carpet and house plants.
Inside the elevator, police encountered McFarthing covered in blood, still actively beating Ferguson, who appeared to have also been the victim of a sexual assault, according to reports.
Ferguson's son said police had to draw their weapons to get McFarthing to stop the assault. He was immediately arrested, Ferguson said.
Autopsy results from the Cook County Medical Examiner's office showed Ferguson died Saturday from multiple injuries related to an assault, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Phalyon McFarthing, 45, was arrested and charged with the alleged beating murder of 61-year-old Algie Ferguson on Jan. 23. [Chicago Police Department]
According to the police report, Ferguson's brain was hemorrhaging when he arrived at the hospital. He also suffered a black eye, broken nose, and other injuries consistent with rape.
Part of his ear was also missing, police said.
Ferguson said that after a few days at the hospital, the right side of this father's brain stopped functioning, followed by the left side. He said he made the heartbreaking decision to keep his father on life support for the next several days while doctors could prepare his body to have his organs donated "to help save someone else's life."
McFarthing, of the 1500 block of West Pratt Boulevard, was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, attempted murder and criminal sexual assault.
Ferguson and his father had recently reconnected after about 20 years apart, the son told DNAinfo Monday afternoon.
"We was just becoming a father and son again," Ferguson said. "I just truly hate he had to go out the way he did, I really do ... no matter what he did in his life no one deserves to go out like that."
After the two met up and began to rebuild their relationship last summer, Ferguson said he and his dad got into the habit of talking daily by phone and regularly checking in.
Ferguson had moved to Tennessee years ago, but said his relationship with his dad was improving and showing promise. He said they looked forward to getting to know the men they had each become.
Ferguson described his dad as a helpful and caring man who likely trusted the wrong person.
"You never know what can happen when you're playing in these streets and the people that you be around — you don't know what's in peoples' minds, if these people had a good day or not," he said. "The guy that he was messing with ... my father he didn't even know what [McFarthing] probably went through before they even got together."
"That frustration that he took out on my father was probably meant for someone else," he said.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
