A man has been charged with murder for strangling Vanessa V. Taylor in her West Garfield Park home earlier this week, a murder discovered by police after her roommate posted on social media that he had killed her.
James E. Thomas, 49, was charged with one county of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault to a peace officer with a weapon, according to Chicago Police.
About 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, officers performing a well-being check in the third-floor apartment in the 4300 block of West Flournoy found the 49-year-old Taylor unresponsive, police said. A source said she had been strangled with a computer cord.
James E. Thomas | Chicago Police
Responding officers also found Thomas in the apartment, armed with a knife, police said.
Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy Wednesday found she died of asphyxiation and ligature strangulation, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.
A police source said the woman’s roommate had posted on social media that he had killed her, and police said the killing may be domestic in nature.
Thomas, also of the 4300 block of West Flournoy, is scheduled to appear in bond court Thursday, police said.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire