In the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, Robert L. Porter Jr. was a familiar and friendly face. To many, the 45-year-old African-American man was known as the "CD man," a neighborhood entrepreneur who sold music out of his car. Friends and neighbors remembered him as a "family man" who was always willing to help others, sometimes offering small jobs to those in the community who were out of work. One local minister described him as a man who was "always helping people out." Another neighbor recalled him as "a really nice guy, a guy who cared about the community," someone who mostly kept to himself but would also occasionally throw parties. A memorial page paints a picture of a man nicknamed "Big Worm" who was a loving friend and the "best uncle in the world," someone who was "very outgoing loved to party had a great smile all about peace."
The late afternoon of Sunday, September 4, 2016, was tragically violent. Around 5:15 p.m., Porter and a 27-year-old man were in an alley in the 6700 block of South Green Street, unloading boxes. Suddenly, an individual dressed in black approached them and opened fire without warning. The attack was swift and brutal. Porter was struck multiple times by gunfire in his chest and torso. The younger man with him was also gravely wounded, hit in the chest, back, and wrist. Both men were rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for emergency treatment. Despite the efforts of medical staff, Robert Porter Jr. was pronounced dead at 6:02 p.m. The 27-year-old man was listed in serious condition.
The shooting happened during a Labor Day weekend marked by a surge of violence across Chicago, with dozens of people shot and several killed. The Englewood community was particularly shaken, not just by Porter's death but by another fatal shooting that occurred just two blocks away the very next morning. A neighbor, returning home from church to find the block sealed off with police tape, expressed the shock and sorrow that rippled through the area. "It was a total surprise," he said. "We're all brothers in this world. I don't know why people are walking around killing each other."
The Chicago Police Department began an investigation into the double shooting. In the immediate aftermath, authorities stated that both Porter and the man he was with were documented gang members. However, this official characterization stood in stark contrast to the memories of those who knew Porter from the neighborhood. They saw him not as a statistic in a police file, but as a kind and helpful person who was a positive presence on his block. He lived just a few blocks from where he was killed, in the 7300 block of South Green.
No arrests were made in the initial days of the investigation, and the gunman, who approached on foot and was clad in black, was not publicly identified. The case was handled by Area South detectives, who were tasked with unraveling the circumstances that led to the deadly ambush in the alley.
As of September 2016, no one was in custody for the murder of Robert Porter Jr., and the investigation remained open. His death left a void in his community, where he was remembered as a good-hearted man who cared about his neighbors. His homicide is one of many from that violent year in Chicago that remains unsolved, leaving his family and friends without answers or justice for the man they lovingly knew as "Big Worm."
