Shaoxiong Dennis Zheng, 24, was killed while walking near the University of Illinois Chicago campus on November 9, 2021. According to investigators, a car pulled up on the sidewalk in the 900 block of East 54th Place and a gunman demanded the laptop and other valuables Zheng was carrying. A struggle ensued and a single shot struck him in the chest. He was taken a short distance to the University of Chicago Medical Center and pronounced dead shortly before 2 p.m.

Zheng had recently completed a master’s degree in statistics at UIC and was remembered by faculty and friends as a generous, curious scholar planning a career in data science. Police say surveillance and license plate reader data identified a stolen Ford Mustang as the getaway vehicle; officers later recovered the Mustang key fob and two firearms, one ballistically linked to the killing. Investigators allege the victim’s laptop and iPhone were pawned for about $100 soon after the shooting.

On November 12, 2021, police charged 18-year-old Alton Spann with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and unlawful use of a weapon; a judge ordered him held without bail. Court filings mentioned additional people in the Mustang at the time of the shooting, and detectives said they were continuing to investigate whether others were involved. If anyone has information about what happened that day or the people seen near East 54th Place, please come forward.