Chicago police say Lennie Brownlee was found on the floor of her home in the 4200-block of West Cermak with lacerations to her neck.
Brownlee's landlord, who checked on her often, sent her grandson to look in on her. The door was open and the grandson made the gruesome discovery.
Landlord Julia Davis Saturday was still trying to come to grips with her tenant and friend being found dead under suspicious circumstances.
"When they called and told me Lennie's gone, I said gone where," Davis said. "I'm stunned."
Neighbors said Brownlee lived alone there for the last six years.
Davis' grandson, Matario Davis, was making his daily well-being check on the property and occupants when he and his brother found Brownlee.
"I checked the room, saw a cover on the floor, didn't think nothing of it," he said. "Then I truned back and saw like a foot. So I called me brother, had a flashlight, we looked and we found the body."
On Saturday, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office ruled the death a homicide. Autopsy results show she had multiple stab wounds to she her neck and possibly her back.
Police have not commented on their investigation.
Friends remembered Brownlee as a kind and caring person. Davis wondered who would want the hurt her friend and why.
"It's scary," she said. "It's happening everywhere. Ain't no more happy days."
