Sheryl Johnson, a 44-year-old Black woman, was killed in Chicago during the third week of April 1999. Her body was found around midnight on April 20, 1999, inside a boarded-up, abandoned four-flat at 5004 South Justine Street on the South Side. She was partially undressed, one leg was propped against a wall, and blood was visible around her nose and mouth.

The Cook County medical examiner determined Johnson died by manual strangulation, documenting significant internal neck injuries, hemorrhaging in neck muscles and the upper esophagus, pinpoint hemorrhaging in the airway and eyelids, an injured tongue, and multiple bruises and abrasions. Oral, vaginal and rectal swabs were collected; DNA from her vaginal swab matched the DNA profile of Andre Crawford and the semen recovered was consistent with having originated from him. Crawford gave a recorded statement describing meeting Johnson near West 50th Street and South Marshfield Avenue in the third week of April 1999, walking with her to the abandoned building on Justine Street, strangling her when she resisted, and later sexually assaulting her body and removing her shoes, pants and purse.

Johnson’s killing was one of several South Side attacks linked by DNA and similar crime-scene characteristics. Investigators identified Andre Crawford as a suspect through tips and DNA comparison; he was later charged in a consolidated prosecution covering multiple murders and sexual assaults connected to the pattern. Does anyone have information about Johnson’s life or the area around 5004 South Justine Street in April 1999?