Two decades after the mysterious death of a Chicago woman, her family has continued on their pursuit to find justice for their loved one who they feel has been left for dead without a care from Chicago police.
Angela Ford was found dead after she was sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled in Illinois’ capital city in 1999. News of her death traumatized her family, who only have memories of their beloved family member who was ripped away from them.
“We would get together on Sundays and go to my great aunt’s house and have dinner after church. Those are some of the best memories of her,” Angela Ford’s daughter Keyana Brickell told FOX 32 Chicago.
Brickell was just a child when her mother was murdered. The rest, she says is all a blur. “I remember me and my brother asking to come with her to the school to pick up our report cards, and she said no, she loved us, and she would be right back and that it wouldn’t take long. That was pretty much the last time I saw her.”
Brickell eventually wound up missing for days after that memory. She was eventually found dead in a vacant building less than two miles away from her home.
Investigators tried to piece together who committed Ford’s murder, but DNA evidence had no match to the alleged assailant.
“I just couldn’t believe like someone would do that to her,” Brickell sighed.
Ford represents one of hundreds of murdered Chicago women whose cases remain unsolved. In almost all cases, the women are Black and are found in abandoned homes, parking lots or dumpsters. Some are set on fire, others are found dismembered, and many of them are strangled before they die.
“In places like Chicago, the police department says ‘don’t say serial killer’ because you might scare somebody. But we should want to scare somebody,” said West Side Reverend Robin Hood, who is working relentlessly to provide answers for the victim’s families. “Law enforcement on a daily basis pick what they got to work on. Every day, as you know in Chicago, we have gun violence.”
He further explained that in many cases Chicago police may assume that the victim lived a troubled life.
“Asking them if they were an alcoholic? Were they a drug addict? Were they a prostitute? It’s the most hurtful and painful thing that anybody could feel when their loved one is missing,” Hood said.
Ford’s daughter, who is now an adult, says the more time that passes without any answers about her mother’s death, the more she begins to feel that city officials don’t care.
“Nothing pretty much is being done about it because of where these ladies come from – the neighborhoods. They feel like Black women have no value,” Brickell said.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Police Department says Ford’s case remains open.
“To not answer those crimes and to not put the resources in there is really a situation I would call not getting cooperation. And people don’t trust you when you don’t solve the crimes,” Hood said.
