Man fatally shot in Back of the Yards as pregnant daughter drops him off at work

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A father of four was gunned down early Thursday morning in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood as his pregnant daughter dropped him off at work.

Police said a 38-year-old man was getting out of his Kia Soul near West 43rd Street and South Racine Avenue around 4:45 a.m. when someone inside a dark-colored SUV opened fire.

The man, identified to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office as Elijah Murphy, suffered gunshot wounds to his body and head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Murphy, who also went by "Fat Head," worked the line as a meat processor at Bea's Best, City Foods, Inc. A manager, who described Murphy as "dependable," said his shift would have started at 5 a.m.

"I saw him yesterday and the day before that. We were joking around," said Miguel Rojas, a coworker.

The manager said surveillance video clearly shows two men parked outside the meat-packaging facility, waiting for Murphy to arrive. He said both men were masked and armed. They fired over and over again as Murphy stepped out of his vehicle.

"I was in the area. I was right here. I heard several shots fired," said Mark Flournoy, another coworker.

"I walked around here and I was like, 'What happened? What happened? Daddy-O just got shot.' I walked over there and looked and saw his daughter crying and hollering," said Frank Ivory, another coworker.

Family members said Murphy's 20-year-old pregnant daughter rode with her dad to work daily. Thursday was no different.

"It is so sad to see his youngest daughter seeing her father murdered in front of her eyes. I feel that she'll never be the same," Flournoy said.

"She said, 'They killed my daddy, killed my daddy, killed my daddy.' I couldn't look at him," Ivory said.

More than a dozen of Murphy's family members huddled steps from the scene Thursday morning, inconsolable.

"He loved being around his family and nothing more," Cynthia Robinson, Murphy's 36-year-old sister, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "He just wanted to be around his family and raise his kids - all four of them - matter of fact he was expecting a his first grandbaby real soon."

She said his daughter was not hurt.

"He didn't deserve nothing like this," Robinson said. "He's not even that type of guy. He's a family man, he works every day. He comes home every day."

The manager said Murphy had worked for City Foods for 5-6 years and that Murphy's father also worked for the company, as a driver, before he moved out of state.

Area Central detectives are investigating. No one in is custody.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.