Half-naked woman found dead in East Garfield Park; homicide investigation underway

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A woman, who neighbors said was half-naked, was found dead on the street on Chicago's West Side.

A woman who saw the body said the victim had been beaten so fiercely in her face that she could not tell whether she knew her.

The dead woman was discovered at around 1:15 a.m. in the 3500-block of West Huron Street in the city's East Garfield Park neighborhood.

There was blunt trauma to the victim's face and defensive wounds on her body, as if she fought for her life, officers said. The woman was 40 or 50 years old.

An autopsy Thursday found she was strangled, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's officer. Her name has not yet been released.

Andrew Holmes, a community activist, was at the scene Thursday morning. He said police hope to identify her soon, as they search for clues into who killed her.

People who live nearby said they did not hear any screams or a fight, leading them to believe she may have been killed somewhere else and dumped in the neighborhood.

Area North detectives are handling the homicide investigation. No one is in custody.

The incident came less than a week after 17-year-old Tiara Viramontes was killed and a 30-year-old man was wounded in a shooting in the same block. They were in the back of a building at 4:48 a.m. Sunday when someone opened fire, authorities said at the time. Viramontes, who lived in the same neighborhood as the shooting, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital more than 12 hours later.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.