EDGEWATER — A 23-year-old woman was shot to death and a man was found dead in an Edgewater apartment building this week in what authorities believe could be a murder-suicide, according to officials and media reports.
Brittany Nicole Kinlow was found dead around 1:30 p.m. Monday in the Belle Shore apartment building at 1060 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., where she lived, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
Kinlow was found with a gunshot wound to her head and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. She was on the way to work when she was shot and was found in a hallway of the apartment complex, not far from the elevator, anti-violence activist Andrew Holmes said Wednesday.
Kinlow was a student at the University of Illinois Chicago and is from Evanston, according to her Facebook page. She was a musician and artist who hosted a radio show at UIC, according to her social media.
Kinlow was set to graduate Monday with a degree in music business, according to a UIC spokesperson and a social media post from a relative.
While investigating Kinlow’s death, police found the body of a 26-year-old man Tuesday inside a separate apartment in the Belle Shore building, Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) said.
The man, identified as Jovan Cabrera, was found around noon Tuesday as police were executing a search warrant at his apartment, police said.
Cabrera’s death was from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Osterman wrote in an update to constituents.
Police suspect the incidents were a murder-suicide, according to the Tribune.
Police have classified Kinlow’s death as a homicide investigation, while they are looking into Cabrera’s as a death investigation, according to an incident report. The report says detectives are working to determine if the deaths were related.
A police spokesperson did not have an update on the case as of Wednesday afternoon.
Kinlow’s relatives said they do not know Cabrera and are waiting to hear more from police about the case, Holmes said.
The family, accompanied by Holmes and other activists, were able to get into Kinlow’s apartment in the historical Belle Shores building and rescue her two cats as well as some personal items.
A GoFundMe has been launched to help family pay for Kinlow’s funeral.
“She was a sweet, caring, loving young lady that had her whole life ahead of her,” said Tony Richardson, an anti-violence organizer who said he is in touch with Kinlow’s relatives. “She did nothing to deserve this.”