CANARYVILLE — Chicago Police detectives are reviewing pictures captured on a camera at Taylor-Lauridsen Park that might offer clues about the stabbing death of Joe Locasto, according to Ald. Patrick D. Thompson (11th).
"The police are investigating that," Thompson said at a Wednesday night CAPS meeting at St. Gabriel School. "I know they're reviewing some of the pictures they were able to get off of some of the cameras that were around the park."
Cameras at Taylor-Lauridsen Park, 704 W. 42nd St., mifhr have captured images of Locasto in the moments before he was stabbed. Because the investigation is still open, the images are unavailable, according to Officer Michelle Tannehill, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family," Thompson said.
On Oct. 16, Locasto was walking in the 600 block of West 43rd Street at 4:15 a.m. when another man got out of a gray station wagon and tried to rob him, police said.
The two began fighting, and the robber pushed Locasto to the ground before stabbing him. He was stabbed three times in his right side and once in his upper right arm, and he was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.
After being stabbed, Locasto noticed that some of his property was stolen by the robber, police said. The robber, believed to be a man in his 20s or 30s, ran away, police said. No arrests have been made.
At the hospital, Locasto underwent successful surgery to stop bleeding in his punctured lung and liver. Locasto needed a breathing tube and struggled with blood pressure issues, according to his family. He remained in intensive care until he died Monday. He was 63.
Locasto frequently walked the neighborhood after being diagnosed with a heart condition many years ago, according to Mary Evans, Locasto's girlfriend. His doctors told him to get healthier, so he quit drinking and smoking and began walking.
"He's just a wonderful man," Evans said at the time of the stabbing. "He's an old timer who loves his neighborhood."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
