# List of homicides in Illinois

This is a list of homicides in Illinois. This list includes notable homicides committed in the U.S. state of Illinois that have a Wikipedia article on the killing, the killer, or the victim. It is divided into five subject areas as follows:
* Multiple homicides – homicides having multiple victims. It includes incidents such as the 1886 Haymarket affair, the 1966 murder of six student nurses by Richard Speck, and the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders
* Serial killers – persons who murder three or more persons, with the incidents taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. This includes John Wayne Gacy, the most prolific serial killer in Illinois history.
* Organized crime – notable homicides involving the Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago. These include the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre and the 1975 murder of Sam Giancana.
* Lynchings and race riots – homicides associated with lynching and race riots. These include the 1844 Killing of Joseph Smith and the Chicago race riot of 1919.
* Single homicides – notable homicides involving a single fatality which do not fall within the scope of one of the above categories. These incidents include the 1924 murder of Bobby Franks by Leopold and Loeb.
This article does not include military battles fought in Illinois. Such battles, including battles fought during the Black Hawk War, may be found at List of battles fought in Illinois.
This article also does not include people who have been executed in Illinois. Such persons are listed separately at List of people executed in Illinois.
Listed in chronological order
| Incident | Location | Date | Deaths | Description |
| Lively massacre | Washington County | 1813 | 3 | Native Americans killed John Lively, his wife and their children |
| Indian Creek massacre | LaSalle County | 1832-05-21 | 15 | Attack by Native Americans on white settlers after settlers built a dam that prevented fish from reaching Potawatomi village |
| St. Vrain massacre | Pearl City | 1832-05-24 | 4 | White Indian agent and three companions killed in an attack by Native Americans |
| Charleston riot | Charleston | 1864-03-28 | 9 | Clash between Union soldiers and Republicans, on one side, and Democrats known as Copperheads, on other side |
| Haymarket affair | Chicago | 1886-05-04 | 12 | Rally in support of eight-hour work day, including protester throwing dynamite bomb at police and police opening fire on protesters |
| Battle of Virden | Virden | 1898-10-12 | 13 | Labor union and racial conflict during a strike by the United Mine Workers |
| Pana riot | Pana | 1899-04-10 | 7 | Coal mining labor dispute and racial conflict, part of the Illinois coal wars |
| Herrin massacre | Herrin | 1922-06-21/22 | 23 | Labor violence during coal strike |
| 1937 Memorial Day massacre | Chicago | 1937-05-30 | 10 | Chicago police shot and killed 10 unarmed demonstrators during Little Steel strike |
| James Morelli | Chicago | 1947-12-12 | 3 | Mad Dog killings |
| Murder of the Grimes sisters | Chicago | 1956-12-28 | 2 | Sisters ages 12 and 15 disappeared returning home from movie theater, bodies discovered three weeks later |
| Chester Weger | Starved Rock State Park | 1960-03 | 3 | Murdered three middle-aged women, wives of prominent Chicago businessmen |
| Richard Speck | Chicago | 1966-07-13 | 8 | Murdered eight student nurses in their Chicago residence |
| Simon Nelson | Rockford | 1978-01-07 | 6 | Rockford man killed his six children (ages 3 to 12) and the family dog |
| Latin Kings murders | Chicago | 1979-02-25 | 3 | Three teenagers were found with their throats slashed in a car in Chicago. They were murdered after asking Latin Kings members where they could buy marijuana. |
| Kenneth Allen | Chicago | 1979-03-03 | 2 | Convicted of killing two Chicago police officers |
| Chicago Tylenol murders | Chicago | 1982 | 7 | Poisoning deaths resulting from placing potassium cyanide in Tylenol capsules in Chicago metropolitan area |
| Charles Walker | St. Clair County | 1983-06-18 | 2 | Murdered a young couple after robbing them, later executed |
| Dardeen family homicides | Ina | 1987-11-17 | 4 | Family murdered in mobile home |
| Murder of Nick Corwin | Winnetka | 1988-05-20 | 2 | Mentally ill woman shot eight-year-old boy at elementary school and then committed suicide |
| Jeffrey and Jill Erickson | Chicago | | 4 | Bank robber killed a marshall and a police detective, then committed suicide |
| Michael Alfonso | | 1992, 2001 | 2 | Committed two murders, listed on FBI's Ten Most Wanted list |
| Brown's Chicken massacre | Palatine | 1993-01-08 | 7 | Two robbers killed seven employees at a fast-food restaurant |
| Mark Winger | Springfield | 1995-08-29 | 2 | Former nuclear power plant technician murdered his wife and a van driver |
| 1999 Independence Day weekend shootings | Illinois, Indiana | 1999-07-04 | 3 | White supremacist wounded nine Orthodox Jews |
| 2003 Chicago warehouse shooting | Chicago | 2003-08-27 | 7 | Salvador Tapia attacks his former workplace with a pistol before getting slain by police |
| Jorge Avila-Torrez | Zion | 2005-05 | 3 | Killed two girls, ages 8 and 9, on Mother's Day |
| Lane Bryant shooting | Tinley Park | 2008-02-02 | 5 | Mass murder and armed robbery at clothing outlet |
| Northern Illinois University shooting | DeKalb | 2008-02-14 | 6 | Mass shooting on a crowd of students |
| Murder of Jason Hudson | Chicago | 2008-10-24 | 2 | Brother and mother of singer Jennifer Hudson shot at their home |
| Gage Park murders | Chicago | 2016-02-02 | 6 | Six members of Martinez family murdered in house in Gage Park, Chicago |
| Duck Walk Killer | Chicago | | 2 | Unsolved spree killing in Rogers Park neighborhood |
| Mercy Hospital shooting | Chicago | 2018-11-19 | 4 | Mass shooting at hospital |
| Aurora, Illinois shooting | Aurora | 2019-02-15 | 6 | Mass shooting at Henry Pratt Company |
| 2019 Goodfield arson | Goodfield | 2019-04-06 | 5 | Arson fire in mobile home started by nine-year-old boy |
| Don Carter Bowling Alley Shooting | Rockford | 2020-26-12 | 3 | An active duty soldier shot-up a bowling alley |
| 2021 Chicago - Evanston shootings | Chicago and Evanston | 2021-01-09 | 6 | Random shooting spree |
| Magnificent Mile shooting | Chicago | 2022-05-19 | 2 | Mass shooting in shopping district |
| Highland Park parade shooting | Highland Park | 2022-07-04 | 7 | Mass shooting at Independence Day parade, also 48 wounded |
| Death of Sania Khan | Chicago | 2022-07-18 | 2 | Man shot estranged wife after she posted about divorce experience on TikTok, then committed suicide |
| 2024 Joliet shootings | Preston Heights & Joliet | 2024-01-21 | 8 | Man opened fire at multiple locations, killing seven family members and an unrelated victim |

## Serial killers

Listed in chronological order by date of earliest homicide
| Incident | Location | Date | Deaths | Description |
| Johann Otto Hoch | Chicago | 1890–1905 | 1–50+ | Also known as "The Bluebeard Murderer" |
| H. H. Holmes | Multiple | 1891–1894 | | Con artist and serial killer executed in 1896 |
| Robert Nixon | California, Illinois | 1937–1938 | 3–5 | Serial killer, basis for Bigger Thomas in Native Son |
| John Agrue | Illinois, Colorado | 1966–1982 | 3+ | Serial killer whose first murder in 1966 was of his sister-in-law in Joliet, Illinois |
| John Wayne Gacy | Norwood Park | 1972–1978 | 33-45 | Serial killer and rapist, also known as the "Killer Clown", who killed at least 33 young men and boys |
| Robert Ben Rhoades | Texas, Illinois | 1975–1990 | 3–50+ | Serial killer and rapist known as "The Truck Stop Killer" |
| Charles Albanese | McHenry | 1980–1981 | 3 | Serial killer who poisoned three relatives with arsenic |
| Ripper Crew | Illinois | 1981–1982 | 18 | Satanic cult and organized crime group composed of serial killers, cannibals, rapists, and necrophiles Robin Gecht[1] and three associates |
| Larry Eyler | Multiple | 1982–1984 | 21–24 | Known as the "Interstate Killer", he murdered at least 21 teenage boys and young men throughout the Midwest |
| Andrew Urdiales | Illinois, Indiana, California | 1986-1996 | 8 | Murdered three of his victims in Illinois |
| Dorothy Williams | Illinois | 1987–1989 | 3 | Killed three elderly people during robberies |
| Jeffrey Dahmer | Chicago, Milwaukee | 1991 | 17 | Dahmer met two of his victims (Matt Turner and Jeremiah Weinberger) in Chicago and paid them to go with him to Milwaukee where he murdered them |
| Southside Strangler | Chicago | 1990s–2000s | ? | Suspected serial killer; responsibility later established to different offenders |
| Andre Crawford | Chicago | 1993-1999 | 11 | Murdered 11 women, many of them drug addicts and sex workers, in Chicago |
| Ronald Hinton | Chicago | 1996–1999 | 3 | Raped and strangled three women in Rogers Park neighborhood |
| Kevin Taylor | Chicago | 2001 | 4 | Strangled four prostitutes |
| Chicago Strangler | Chicago | 2001–2018 | ? | Unconfirmed serial killer, or serial killers, believed to be responsible for the deaths of a number of women in Chicago |

## Organized crime

| Incident | Location | Date | Deaths | Description |
| Shotgun Man | Chicago | 1910-1911 | 15 | Assassin and spree killer to whom murders of Italian immigrants were attributed |
| Maurice Enright | Chicago | 1920-02-02 | 1 | Irish-American gangster gunned down near his South Side home |
| Big Jim Colosimo | Chicago | 1920–05-11 | 1 | Mafia crime boss killed, allegedly by Al Capone |
| Anthony D'Andrea | Chicago | 1921-06-07 | 1 | Mafia boss shot by an assassin while entering his apartment |
| Charles Reiser | Chicago | 1921-10-10 | 1 | Safecracker shot 10 times in hospital bed, corrupt coroner's jury ruled it a suicide |
| Vito Di Giorgio | Chicago | 1922-05-13 | 1 | Italian-born crime boss based in Los Angeles, shot by gunmen while visiting Chicago |
| Dean O'Banion | Chicago | 1924-11-10 | 1 | Bootlegger with North Side Gang shot |
| Tony Genna | Chicago | 1925-07-08 | 1 | Head of Genna crime family, shot during gang war |
| Samuzzo Amatuna | Chicago | 1925-11-13 | 1 | President of Unione Siciliane shot in barber's chair before attending opera |
| Hymie Weiss | Chicago | 1926-10-11 | 2 | Polish-American mob boss and a second man killed in submachine gun and shotgun attack |
| Joe Esposito | Chicago | 1928-03-21 | 1 | Politician involved with bootlegging and rival of Al Capone, killed in drive-by shooting on steps of his house |
| Timothy D. Murphy | Chicago | 1928-06-26 | 1 | Mobster and labor racketeer shot at his front door |
| Antonio Lombardo | Chicago | 1928-09-07 | 2 | Capone's consigliere and bodyguard gunned down; Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was revenge for his death |
| Pasqualino Lolordo | Chicago | 1929-01-08 | 1 | Head of Chicago chapter of Unione Siciliana, shot by gunmen at his house under order from Bugs Moran |
| Saint Valentine's Day Massacre | Chicago | 1929-02-14 | 7 | Murder of seven Irish members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day |
| Jake Lingle | Chicago | 1930-06-09 | 1 | Reporter for Chicago Tribune shot in railroad underpass |
| Joe Aiello | Chicago | 1930-10-23 | 1 | Sicilian bootlegger killed in bloody feud with Al Capone |
| Gus Winkler | Chicago | 1933-10-09 | 1 | Gangster assassinated by shotgun fire after meeting with FBI |
| William White | Oak Park | 1934-01-23 | 1 | Prohibition gangster killed in shootout with two unidentified men |
| Fred Goetz | Cicero | 1934-03-21 | | Suspected participant in Saint Valentine's Day Massacre shot outside a cafe |
| Louis Alterie | Chicago | 1935-07-18 | 1 | Hitman for North Side Gang shot by sniper outside his home |
| Jack McGurn | Chicago | 1936-02-15 | 1 | Sicilian-American boxer and mobster shot by three men at bowling alley |
| Edward J. O'Hare | Cicero | 1939-11-08 | 1 | Lawyer who turned on Capone, shot while driving, son is namesake of O'Hare Airport |
| Danny Stanton | | 1943-05-05 | 1 | Chicago mobster and union racketeer, killed in dispute over gambling operations |
| Lawrence Mangano | Cicero | 1944-08-03 | 1 | Member of Chicago Outfit shot by several gunmen while pulled over in car |
| James Ragen | | 1946-08-15 | 1 | Irish businessman and gangster shot while driving |
| Theodore Roe | Chicago | 1952-08-04 | 1 | African-American organized crime figure known as "Robin Hood" shot after refusing to pay "street tax" to Chicago Outfit |
| Charles Gioe | Chicago | 1954-08-18 | 1 | Lieutenant in Chicago Outfit, shot by soldiers from a competing group |
| William Morris Bioff | | 1955-11-04 | 1 | Chicago pimp killed in bombing |
| Roger Touhy | Chicago | 1959-12-16 | 1 | Bootlegger murdered one month after being released from 29 years in prison |
| William Jackson | Streeterville, Chicago | 1961-08-11 | 1 | Gangster tortured to death by fellow gangsters on suspicion he was an FBI informant |
| Harry Aleman | Chicago | 1972-09-27 | | Mobster initially acquitted and, after first trial was ruled corrupt, convicted at second trial of murdering a Teamsters official |
| Sam DeStefano | Chicago | 1973-04-14 | 1 | Loan shark and torture-murderer associated with Chicago Outfit, shot by Tony Spilotro |
| Richard Cain | Chicago | 1973-12-20 | | Chicago police officer and Sam Giancana associate shot by masked gunman |
| Sam Giancana | Oak Park | 1975-06-19 | 1 | Former boss of the Chicago Outfit murdered before his testimony to the Church Committee |
| Charles Nicoletti | Northlake | 1977-03-29 | 1 | Mobster/hitman shot in back of head at restaurant parking lot |
| William Dauber | Will County | 1980-07-02 | | Chicago hitman shot in his car returning from testifying in court |
| Allen Dorfman | Lincolnwood | 1983-01-20 | | Longtime associate of Jimmy Hoffa and Chicago Outfit shot in parking lot |
| Anthony Spilotro/Michael Spilotro | Bensenville | 1986-06-14 | 2 | Brothers associated with Chicago Outfit murdered and dumped in a nature preserve; James Marcello convicted for the murders |

## Lynchings and race riots

| Incident | Location | Date | Deaths | Description |
| Elijah Parish Lovejoy | Alton | 1837-11-07 | 1 | Minister, newspaper editor, and abolitionist killed by a pro-slavery mob, became a martyr to the abolitionist cause |
| Killing of Joseph Smith | Carthage | 1844-06-27 | 2 | Founder of Latter Day Saint movement killed along with his brother by a mob |
| Lynching of Samuel J. Bush | Decatur | 1893-06-03 | 1 | Black day-laborer accused of raping white woman |
| Lynching of F. W. Stewart | Lacon | 1898-11-07 | 1 | Black man accused of assault of a miner's daughter |
| Lynching of William Johnson | Thebes | 1903-04-26 | | Black man accused of assaulting a 10-year-old girl |
| Lynching of David Wyatt | Brooklyn | 1903-06 | 2 | Black teacher denied renewal of teaching certificate, shot district superintendent and was then lynched |
| Danville race riot | Danville | 1903-07-25 | | Mob sought to lynch black man |
| William "Froggie" James | Cairo | 1909-11-11 | 1 | Black man charged with rape and murder of 23-year-old shop clerk |
| East St. Louis massacre | East St. Louis | 1917-05/07 | - | Labor and race-related attacks by whites who murdered between 39 and 150 black people, nine whites killed |
| Robert Prager | Collinsville | 1918-04-05 | 1 | German immigrant lynched during WWI due to anti-German sentiment |
| Chicago race riot of 1919 | Chicago South Side | 1919-7-27 –1919-8-3 | 38 | Violent racial conflict began on South Side |

## Single homicides

| Incident | Location | Date | Description |
| Jean La Lime | Chicago | 1812-06-17 | Trader from Quebec, "first murder in Chicago" |
| George Davenport | Rock Island | 1845-07-04 | Pioneer of Quad Cities, namesake of Davenport, Iowa, murdered by Banditti of the Prairie |
| Edmund Durfee | Hancock County | 1845-11-15 | Early member of Latter Day Saint movement, shot by anti-Mormon mob; remembered as a martyr of LDS church |
| Sharon Tyndale | Springfield | 1871-04-29 | Illinois Secretary of State, redesigned state seal, assassinated outside his home |
| Jimmy Elliott | Chicago | 1883-03-01 | Former world heavyweight boxing champion, shot by a gambler in a saloon |
| Patrick Henry Cronin | Chicago | 1889-05-04 | Irish republican doctor murdered by affiliates of Clan na Gael |
| Carter Harrison Sr. | Chicago | 1893-10-28 | Mayor of Chicago and former US Congressman, murdered at his home by a disappointed office-seeker |
| Adolph Luetgert | Chicago | 1897-05-01 | German-American businessman convicted of murdering his second wife and dissolving her body in a vat filled with lye at his sausage company |
| Hampton W. Wall | Staunton | 1898-04-15 | Illinois legislator murdered by a tenant |
| Hale Johnson | Bogota | 1902-11-04 | Prohibition Part presidential candidate; shot to death while trying to collect a debt |
| Murder of Clarence Hiller | Chicago | 1910-09-19 | Railroad clerk murdered, first use of fingerprint evidence for conviction |
| Elsie Paroubek | Chicago | 1911-04-08 | Four-year-old Czech-American girl kidnapped and murdered |
| Bugs Raymond | Chicago | 1912-02-24 | MLB pitcher beaten in a fight, died of fractured skull at age 30 |
| Leopold and Loeb | Chicago | 1924-05 | Wealthy students at University of Chicago kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks |
| John M. Bolton | Chicago | 1936-07-09 | Businessman and Illinois legislator reportedly assassinated by organized crime due to his efforts to legalize some forms of betting |
| Carl Choisser | Ozark | 1939-09-25 | Politician, lawyer, and newspaper editor shot after quarrel with murder defendant |
| Frank Melrose | Chicago | 1941-09-01 | Jazz and blues pianist killed in fracas in club |
| Gordon McNaughton | Chicago | 1942-08-06 | MLB pitcher shot in hotel lobby by ex-girlfriend |
| Sonny Boy Williamson I | Chicago | 1948-06-01 | Blues musician killed in a robbery on Chicago's South Side |
| Sol Butler | Chicago | 1954-12-01 | African-American NFL player and Olympic long jumper shot at a bar where he worked |
| Malcolm Lee Beggs | Chicago | 1956-12-10 | Actor beaten to death with beer and whisky bottles in hotel room |
| Murder of Maria Ridulph | Sycamore | 1957-12-03 | Seven-year-old girl disappeared and body found almost five months later |
| Benjamin F. Lewis | Chicago | 1963-02-28 | Chicago alderman murdered in his ward office |
| Murder of Michele LeAnn Morgan | Mascoutah | 1961-08-11 | Child abuse victim murdered by stepmother at age 4 |
| Fred Hampton | Chicago | 1969-12-04 | Deputy national chairman of Black Panther Party shot and killed in his bed in predawn raid |
| Murder of Evelyn Okubo | Chicago | 1970-07-18 | Japanese-American teenager killed during Japanese-American convention at Palmer House |
| Jeanine Nicarico murder case | Naperville | 1972-07-07 | Two Hispanic men wrongfully convicted of rape and murder |
| Dragiša Kašiković | Chicago | 1977-06-19 | Bosnian Serb writer and his nine-year-old daughter murdered by Yugoslavian secret police |
| Lee Jackson | Chicago | 1979-07-01 | Blues musician shot to death during a family argument |
| Murder of Jaclyn Dowaliby | Chicago | 1981-05-17 | Seven-year-old girl disappeared from her bedroom, body discovered four days later |
| Rudy Lozano | Chicago | 1983-06-08 | Labor activist organized "Black-Brown unity" in electing Harold Washington mayor, murdered shortly after Washington's election |
| Ben Wilson | Chicago | 1984-11-21 | Top high school basketball player in USA shot to death |
| Flukey Stokes | Chicago | 1986-11-19 | Drug kingpin murdered along with his chauffeur sitting in a Cadillac limousine |
| Stephen B. Small | Kankakee | 1987-09-02 | Business kidnapped and held for ransom, died from asphyxiation due to conditions of confinement |
| Ioan Petru Culianu | Chicago | 1991-05-21 | Romanian historian and writer, critical of the Romanian secret police, shot in a bathroom at the University of Chicago Divinity School |
| Stuart Heaton case | Ramsey | 1991-07-23 | Stabbed a pregnant, 16-year-old girl 81 times with a pair of sewing scissors |
| Dantrell Davis | Chicago | 1992-10-13 | Seven-year-old boy caught in crossfire as he walked to school with his mother at Cabrini-Green |
| Joseph White | Chicago | 1992-10-11 | 15-year-old male shot another student at Tilden High school over a game of dice |
| Murder of Joseph Wallace | Chicago | 1993-04-19 | Three-year-old boy murdered by mentally-ill mother |
| Robert Sandifer | Chicago | 1994-09-01 | 11-year-old boy known as "Yummy" killed by fellow gang members out of fear he could become an informant |
| Murder of Eric Morse | Chicago | 1994-10-13 | Five-year-old African-American boy dropped from a high-rise in the Ida B. Wells Homes by a 10- and 11-year-old boys |
| Murder of Karyn Hearn Slover | Decatur | 1996-09-27 | 23-year-old mother disappeared after leaving work and found two days later wrapped in plastic bags near a lake |
| Lee Miglin | Chicago | 1997-05-04 | Real estate developer murdered in his home by spree killer Andrew Cunanan |
| Murder of Peggy Johnson | McHenry | 1999-07-20 | Jane Doe body identified years later; nurse convicted in 2022 of her murder |
| Ricky Byrdsong | Skokie | 1999-07-03 | First African-American head coach of Northwestern basketball team killed by a white supremacist in hate crime killing spree |
| Regina and Margaret DeFrancisco | | 2000-06 | Two teenage sisters murdered boyfriend of one, set body on fire, and gained national notoriety as fugitives |
| Murder of Laree Slack | | 2001-11-11 | 12-year-old girl beaten to death by Jehovah's Witness father who claimed he was administering Biblical discipline |
| Murder of Mary Stachowicz | | 2002-11-13 | Polish-American woman murdered after questioning killer's sexuality, drew attention as alleged hate crime against Christian heterosexual |
| Brice Hunter | Chicago | 2004-04-19 | Former NFL wide receiver shot outside his apartment |
| Murder of Riley Fox | Wilmington | 2004-06-06 | Three-year old girl murder, father was accused but then cleared by DNA evidence |
| Murder of Atcel Olmedo | Naperville | 2005-09 | Body of Mexican boy, age 2, discovered in Naperville |
| Karen McCarron | Morton | 2006-05-13 | German-born pathologist suffocated her three-year-old autistic daughter |
| Nicole Abusharif | Villa Park | 2007-03-17 | Murdered her domestic partner |
| Murder of Derrion Albert | Chicago | 2009-09-24 | Murder at Christian Fenger Academy High School |
| Murder of Hadiya Pendleton | Chicago | 2013-01-29 | 15-year-old girl shot while standing with friends in a park; Barack Obama mentioned in State of Union |
| Murder of Laquan McDonald | Chicago | 2014-10-20 | 17-year-old African-American youth fatally shot by white police officer |
| Murder of Yingying Zhang | Urbana | 2017-06-09 | Visiting Chinese scholar abducted, raped and murdered near University of Illinois |
| Killing of Adam Toledo | Chicago | 2021-03-29 | 13-year-old Latino boy shot by Chicago police officer |
| Killing of Anthony Alvarez | Chicago | 2021-03-31 | Latino man shot by Chicago police, body camera footage showed he was shot in back while fleeing from police with a gun in his hand |
| Killing of Zheng Shaoxiong | Chicago | 2021-11-09 | International student from China fatally shot near the University of Chicago |
| Killing of Sonya Massey | Springfield | 2024-07-06 | 36-year-old woman shot by a Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy in her home. |