As family told CBS 2’s Marissa Perlman Tuesday, the family of Brittany Kinlow said she had just finished finals. Kinlow’s family was still in shock, telling us her murder was too fresh for them to speak on camera as they mourn a young woman with a bright future cut short.
Kinlow was a member of the jazz ensemble at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a music teacher at the School of Rock in Park Ridge. Family told us Kinlow had just wrapped up finals Monday afternoon and was leaving her home at the Belle Shore Apartments, at 1062 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., to head to work.
Kinlow’s family was told she ran into another man from her apartment building. After a brief exchange, as she walked away near the first-floor elevator, she was shot.
Police said she was found at 1;22 p.m. Monday. Neighbors said they heard the gunshots from upstairs, but didn’t realize it was so close. “My bed is right by the window, and I did hear what I assumed was a gunshot,” said neighbor Jennifer Culajay.
She was ambushed outside an elevator in her own Edgewater apartment building and shot and killed this week. Just hours later, police said they also found a man dead inside the same building. Police late Tuesday were trying to determine whether the two deaths within 24 hours in one building are connected.
Family got a call from Kinlow’s employer. She never made it to work. And then on early Tuesday morning, a 22-year-old man was found dead inside the same apartment building. Police returned Tuesday to execute a search warrant.
Neighbors are now concerned, with two investigations so close to home in such a short time.
Kinlow was set to graduate in just days. Her family says they’ll remember her positive spirit, talent, and bright smile. The two deaths seem connected actually and the police are working on it, Stay tuned with us for more updates.
