Guadalupe Maldonado was 46 when she was killed during the Brown’s Chicken Massacre in Palatine, Illinois, on January 8, 1993. She was one of seven people—the restaurant owners Richard and Lynn Ehlenfeldt and five employees—who were murdered during an armed robbery at closing time. The assailants forced staff into the walk-in freezers and shot them.

The case sat unsolved for nearly nine years until a 2002 tip from a former girlfriend of one suspect led investigators to new leads. DNA evidence tied Juan Luna to the scene; he was arrested and eventually convicted in 2007. James Degorski was also found guilty in 2009 and both men received life sentences without parole.

The massacre left a lasting impact on the community and the victims’ families, who mark the loss with memorials and remembrance services. Does anyone have personal memories of the restaurant or the victims to share with the community?