On August 24, 1992, 67-year-old William Patterson, an African American man, was fatally shot during an attempted armed robbery in the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. His relative, James Patterson, was also shot in the same attack but survived. The shooter was identified as Ralph Harris, whose crimes during a broader spree from July 1992 to August 1995 included multiple murders, attempted murders, sexual assaults, and armed robberies.

Ralph Harris was arrested on August 29, 1995, and charged with numerous felonies, including the murder of William Patterson and the attempted murder of James Patterson. In 1999 Harris was convicted in the William Patterson case of first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery. The killing had a profound impact on the Chatham community and on the surviving family members.

Did anyone in Chatham at the time remember William Patterson or have information about that night?