Across the street from the mayor's house.
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A man who lives across the street from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was held without bail Tuesday after prosecutors accused him of beating a woman to death with a baseball bat inside his home and dumping her body in the alley.
Arnel Smith, 64, is charged with first-degree murder and concealing a homicidal death.
A medical examiner who handled the 41-year-old victim’s case said they had “never seen so many injuries on someone’s body,” Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord said during Smith’s bail hearing.
Smith met the woman once about a year ago, then happened to cross paths with her again at a Citgo gas station around 5 a.m. on Friday.
Arnel Smith is accused of murdering a woman with a baseball bat inside his home across the street from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s house. | Google; Twitter; Chicago Police Department
The two rode a CTA bus back to Smith’s home in the 5700 block of West Superior. There, they smoked crack and the woman performed a sex act, according to McCord.Afterward, said McCord, Smith accused the woman of stealing money and would not let her leave until she paid him what he believed he was owed.
The altercation turned violent.
Smith beat the woman with a baseball bat and stabbed her with broken pottery until she died, McCord alleged.
After the murder, Smith allegedly smoked some more crack, wrapped the woman’s body in a comforter, and dragged her to an alley. Surveillance video showed him trying to place the body into a dumpster, but he was “physically unable” to complete the task, so he left her on the ground, McCord said.
Later, another neighbor saw the comforter as they returned from picking up pizza. Believing that a body might be hidden inside, they kicked the blanket and discovered the woman.
