Antoinette Congo, 36, was found shortly after midnight on September 11, 2025, unresponsive on the alley apron outside a garage in the 6500 block of South Damen Avenue in Englewood after firefighters extinguished a blaze. An autopsy determined she had been shot multiple times—wounds to her left side, back, and the back of her head—and investigators concluded an accelerant was used to start the fire, with the point of origin at her body. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Within days Chicago police arrested 65-year-old Gregory W. Hudson, a Roseland man prosecutors say Congo had known for about a year. He was charged with first-degree murder, concealment of a homicidal death, arson, aggravated armed kidnapping, and aggravated criminal sexual assault with a firearm. Prosecutors allege Hudson lured Congo and a 27-year-old woman to his apartment; the surviving woman told authorities she heard gunshots, saw Congo wounded, and later reported being sexually assaulted under threat. Witnesses and surveillance placed a white work van with a ladder near the garage around the time of the fire, and a 911 caller reported the blaze.

Friends and memorial pages marked the date and circumstances of Congo’s death, underscoring community shock. If anyone has information about Congo, the events that night, or the van seen near the scene, please come forward.