Monday, around 11:26 p.m, police responded to a fight at 629 West Stratford Place, near Stratford and Broadway.
When authorities arrived, both Van Stephens and Atkinson were rushed to Illinois Masonic Hospital with multiple stab wounds.
Doctors were able to stabilize Van Stephens' condition... Atkinson was pronounced dead at 12:08 a.m. Tuesday.
According to his Facebook profile, Van Stephens is an aspiring clothing designer.
In addition to being roommates, Van Stephens and Atkinson were Facebook "friends".
Sources say the deadly dispute was over a man.
Guess they won't be going to Circuit tomorrow night.
ReplyDeleteA black guy named Van Stephens???
ReplyDeleteOh WHAT a mess! Guess that's why Halsted Street workers put their heads in their 7-11 bags when they see you on the street in the daylight after coaxing you to visit their venue to earn a $ the night before. Legitmate reason to be scared. Understood.
ReplyDeleteOne of 'em is telling a very good guy I've been spending time with to "come visit me, I'm lonely".......on Facebook. He has a "partner" already.
You people create your own problems. The economy IS bad but have some standards.
It's always a nig involved in murder.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's always one making stupid remarks like yours.
DeleteCheck the headlines...it's more often one of you involved in murder. Racist comments so sad in such a sad situation!
ReplyDeleteRacist gay people are such an oxymoron. Imagine a gay man,offended by the word fag, referencing a black man as a nig. Crimes of passion cross all cultural and racial boundaries.
ReplyDeleteThis was a crime of passion, plain and simple. Color has absolutely NOTHING to do with it.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope they both make a full recovery.
ReplyDeleteLOL...I don't think the dead mexican is going to make a full recovery.
ReplyDeleteRace, or color, has EVERYTHING to do with it. When do all the slow learners ever learn than nothing good ever comes from the blacks?
ReplyDeleteI can't believe some of you people! John was one of my best friends, and an AMAZING person. He is gone forever. It's unreal that people like some of you exist thinking this is funny. I miss him so much.
ReplyDeleteA black guy named Van Stephens???
ReplyDeleteThere is a sizeable black Dutch population. It's size is, Herbert Van Stephens.
They were arguing over who should be punching each others taint!
ReplyDeleteIf I was 52 y/o and still lived with roommates, I would welcome a knife in my skull!
ReplyDeleteyou people posting these negative, hateful, mean-spirited posts.... God will deal with you. hope you're ready :)
ReplyDeleteHe was 53 and turning his life around. You people are horrible just pray for gods sakes!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd if race were a factor, he would of shot that guy instead of stabbing, because we all kno knives are for Mexicans!!!!!!!!
An "AMAZING" person doesn't have a 52 year old nig roommate and get into knife fights.
ReplyDeleteYou are the most ignorant person I have ever experienced!! ^ How could you even say that? A beautiful person was killed and people like YOU are mocking it?? He was more than amazing and he was brutally murdered. So yes, an "amazing" person does not have a 52 year old roommate, because that roommate took his life away from us.
ReplyDeletethe spic was also stabbing...so the nig will get off for self defense.
ReplyDeleteHey moron, no he wasn't. The older man killed the younger man and then tried to kill himself but failed. The younger man did not stab. ALSO the older man confessed and did not claim self defense. Feel smart now you racist POS?
ReplyDeleteEven gay blacks are no good.
ReplyDelete^LOL!
ReplyDeleteThe sky was so blue that morning...
ReplyDeleteyou guys are so misinformed. and ignorance is bliss they say. God pray for these haters. Herbert was a good man and it escalated before anyone could stop it. Everyone their was guilty of a love trinagle gone wrong. and for you misfits: it's easy for you to judge others to keep from looking at yourself. You could be the next one getting stabbed with the beiefs and attitude you possess.
ReplyDeleteI hope the Landlord got the Rent for March otherwise he or she is out of luck, that's all i would be caring about.
ReplyDeleteYour knives here. Please stay away from me. Don't even say "hello". Your violence, your knives, your thirst for the almighty $. Look at you all scramble like roaches for it.
ReplyDeleteLove triangle gone wrong? Most with an OUNCE of intelligence would not get involved or STOP it once recognized. I just did. I told him you "de-friend" that already "partnered" ST bartender fat artist wannabe trash (tip $) hitting you up on FB or we're done even being real life friends. He agreed (said "I didn't even know him anyway").
"Backstabbers" & "For The Love of Money" (The O'Jays).
You people here are subhuman simpletons and create your own problems, give gay men a bad name and, most likely, deserve what you get hence no police protection. Nobody takes gays in Chicago seriously. And for good reason. Stereotypes from H.
They both look way gay.
ReplyDeletelynch the nig; in public.
ReplyDeleteCase closed
Good to see the intelligent commentary here. Chicagoans really are backwards fools.
ReplyDelete"Diversity" is bs. The races should stay with their own. We would all be better off if nigs stayed south and spics stayed west so whites can live in peace in the north.
ReplyDeleteThis just isn't right. Tim, I know you're a freedom of speech website. But a line has to be drawn somewhere.
ReplyDeleteIf these racist commenters want to post their racist comments, force them to use their real names; or don't let these racist and shameful comments be posted.
You got the loyal readership. You provide the community with a great resource for the grit and grime of our city. You don't need this "racist website" label attached to your name. Do you?
I hope Tim doesn't take business advice from a failed publisher who managed to take a successful publication and run it into the ground.
ReplyDeleteA 52-year old rooming with a 25 year-old sounded like a problem in itself.
ReplyDeleteThis might be referred to as a 'racist site' by people who are afraid or unaccustomed to expressing themselves freely.
ReplyDeleteBut, those of us who arent blind may drop the occasional 'racist' (truthful) comment. If you dont like it, answer back with a valid counterpoint. Dont just complain that this is a "racist site". 1st amendment doesnt have degrees.
After seeing this story I immediately recognized Herbert Van Stephens as the guy at my gym who would stare at me and creep me out beyond words; dude made my skin crawl and I am not surprised that he killed someone as his blank stare with his doll-like eyes scared me each and every time he'd gawk at me... Guess I won't be seeing him at the gym anytime soon YAY!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe some of the negative and hateful comments about both of these guys. For those of you who actually knew Herbert he wasn't a bad guy....so not sure what happened. He was a much bigger guy than John so I highly doubt it was self defense. For those of you who knew John, I've seen him at the gym and he was always nice and well mannered to me. It's tragic. My heart goes out for both of them especially for the John. His life is gone and his family is suffering. Let's show some respect please.
ReplyDeleteSo Herbert "wasn't a bad guy"...until he knifed someone to death?
ReplyDeleteSounds like the OJ trial...
Herbert was scum... Its too bad hes not the one who died.
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of gay white men, I apologize to any and all offended for the ignorance and racism displayed throughout these comments.
ReplyDeleteI'm a gay white man and I don't need you to apologize for me. I hate nigs and spics...in that order. So go suck a nig dick until he knifes you.
ReplyDeleteGay white man here.
ReplyDeleteBasically agreeing with the anon GWM from 12:31.
But remember, there IS a difference between a black man and a NIG. There IS a difference between a latino and a spic.
That is all.
A few black men can act white for awhile and fool the whites. But then when they herd together with a bunch of their own species, they revert to being nigs again.
ReplyDeleteMost of these comments just make me sick. A young man is dead and people cannot stop focusing on the fact that they were gay? That is the biggest problem to you people? How sad. RIP Little John, you will be missed every day.
ReplyDeleteGay people insist on focusing on how gay they are...they have endless parades and magazines and neighborhoods all focused on being gay. Don't blame straight people for focusing on it when they start killing each other.
ReplyDeleteFor the first time in my life, I am deeply and forever ashamed to call myself a Chicagoan. This tragic murder was bad enough but the ignorant, racist and intentionally hurtful comments from the "community" is far more disturbing and revealing.
ReplyDeleteWhat would make you less "ashamed"? Should we all hold a parade and party for the murdering nig? Or do you expect us all to make donations to his favorite charity in his honor? Maybe we should hold a protest on behalf of all illegal aliens? What exactly do you expect?
ReplyDeleteAshamed to call yourself a Chicagoan for the first time, because of comments made by people you don't know, who may not even live here? Really??
ReplyDeleteSo you weren't ashamed last summer as roving gangs of black kids, who are all proven to be from here, targeted & attacked women, the elderly, & infirm? And did those attacks brazenly, in public, at some of our most visible treausres like the lakefront path & Michigan Ave?
You weren't ashamed when groups of black thug teens forced the North Avenue Beach to be shut down at Memorial Day because they were beating & robbing people at random??
You weren't ashamed as two black gangs turned Uptown into their personal shooting range at Christmastime, leaving at least 2 dead, half a dozen shot, & a community terrified???
You weren't ashamed when last month, two black kids disabled a bus by pulling out the electronics panel, then boarded it and beat a 60 year old driver, and his 75 year old female passenger, into an unconcious pulp then stole their cell phones & $8????
You, lady, are just as big a problem as those ghetto kids running wild and unchecked throughout our city. You would rather criticize people who call out the criminals & the communities that harbor and develop them, than dare risk potentially offending one of them by demanding their communities raise children properly and hold them accountable.
You'll change your tune, eventually, once you become a victim too (and if you really live here, its not an "if" you become a victim of them, its a "when"). Let's just hope that your ultimate fate isn't the same as the victim's here.
Yeah and don't forget about the Black guy who stole the cell phone from the white lady and then he pushed her down the CTA stairs at the Fullerton EL stop and she died.
ReplyDeleteI love racists. They do such a good job at making themselves look bad that no one else has to bother.
ReplyDeleteI love racists. They do such a good job at making themselves look bad that no one else has to bother.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh, crying racism. The "ace up the sleeves" of criminal minorities, and their white apologists alike.
People like you would rather see this city burn to the ground, than demand accountability from the communities lighting the fire.
I once took a chance and had a black roommate. Let's just say that was the first and last time.
ReplyDeleteCraig,
ReplyDeleteMaking people use their "real" names might not stop the racist comments. It would probably reduce them, but, honestly, doing that would stop people commenting on this site in general. (My anon self included.)
I love racists. They are clearly paying attention...
ReplyDeleteI love racists. They are clearly paying attention...
ReplyDeleteYou can call it whatever you want, and try to distract people from the real problem (insane, 13-30 y/o blacks kids from the southside, who have no respect for other people or property), but you're only fooling yourself.
Once you've been jumped on a Michigan Ave sidestreet, and had your teeth knocked in, belongings stolen, and life put in danger, you'll change your tune. Until then, keep living in fantasy land, and keep denying the truth that roughly 85% of violent criminal arrests in Chicago are of people who self-describe themselves as black.
I stayed in a homeless shelter that was 98 percent black for four months, I can guarantee you if ANY of you did the same, you would cement your beliefs that blacks are a useless, evolutionary dead end, just a walking cancer that consumes and destroys and nothing more.
ReplyDeleteLil John was a wonderful person and he will be missed by many.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if the apartment is available yet and what the rent is?
ReplyDelete