Antonio Zepeda, 39, was found dead in the basement of a two-story home in Chicago’s North Mayfair neighborhood after a pre-dawn fire on April 23, 2019. The blaze began around 12:30 a.m. near Keystone Avenue and Ainslie Street; firefighters knocked it down around 1 a.m. but it later rekindled about 6:30 a.m., drawing responders back to the scene. Six residents from the upper floors escaped without injuries.

The Cook County medical examiner identified Zepeda. Investigators examined both the fire’s origin and how Zepeda died. Police told reporters they were exploring whether he had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound as the fire burned, and officials left the causes of the fire and his death under investigation. No suspects or arrests were announced and contemporary coverage emphasized the unanswered questions about what happened in the basement that night.

Did anyone in the neighborhood see or hear anything unusual around Keystone and Ainslie in the early hours of April 23, 2019?