Malik Z. Thames-El was 22 when he was shot while sitting in a parked vehicle on the 5200 block of West Newport Avenue in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood on the night of April 16, 2020. The attack occurred around 9:20 p.m.; an assailant walked up and opened fire. A friend drove Thames-El to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County Medical Examiner identified him as Nayya Malik Z. Thames-El and ruled the death a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the head; police reported he was also struck in the arm and leg.

Police circulated a suspect description the same night: a heavyset male described as Black/Hispanic wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey, seen near Laramie and Newport around the time of the shooting. One neighborhood outlet reported witnesses thought the encounter may have started with a drug deal gone wrong, though authorities did not confirm a motive. No arrests were announced in the months that followed, and the case remained listed among unsolved or non-prosecuted homicides. If anyone has information about that spring night, please share what is known with investigators.