Derion Smith died Tuesday afternoon, about 36 hours after being stabbed during a fight in the Ashburn neighborhood. The death was ruled a homicide, but police said the other man involved acted in self-defense.
Smith, 23, was fighting with a 21-year-old man about 2:10 a.m. Monday in the 8000 block of South Pulaski when the younger man stabbed him in the neck with a knife, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Smith was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. He lived in the same block where he was stabbed.
A 25-year-old woman who tried to break up the fight cut her finger and was also taken to Christ Medical Center, where her condition was stabilized, police said. Police could not confirm reports that the woman was pregnant.
An autopsy Wednesday found that Smith died of the stab wound to the neck, and his death was ruled a homicide.
The 21-year-old man was taken into custody and questioned, but later released without charges after an investigation indicated he acted in self-defense, police said.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire