A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the deadly shooting of a much loved Office of Emergency Management and Communications employee found dead Friday morning in her West Ridge apartment.
Da'J Flowers, 36, was found inside her apartment in the 6900 block of North Bell Avenue around 9:15 a.m. with a gunshot wound to her abdomen after an OEMC director requested a well-being check, Chicago police and the OEMC said.
Flowers was apparently shot several hours before that, according to a police report obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, which said surveillance cameras captured the sound of gunshots around 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
As responding officers tried to open the unlocked door to Flowers' apartment, her body was lying in a hallway, partially blocking the door, and blood was splattered on the walls and floor, according to the report.
Flowers died of multiple gunshot wounds, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office, which performed an autopsy Saturday.
In one of the bedrooms, a black Ruger 9E — a 9 mm handgun — was found in slide lock, meaning the last bullet in the firearm had been fired, according to the police report. Multiple fired 9 mm casings were also recovered in the hallway.
According the OEMC, Flowers was a senior administrative assistant assigned to its investigations division who joined the office at the beginning of the year. Flowers previously worked for the Chicago Department of Public Health.
"Da’J’s passing is a terrible loss to her family and to us here at OEMC and the City of Chicago," OEMC said in a statement.
The Cook County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any information leading to an arrest. No one was in custody as of Tuesday morning.
"Another woman has been killed in our city, and it is unacceptable,” said Paul Rutherford, executive director of Cook County Crime Stoppers. “This was a senseless act of violence, and someone out there knows who is responsible. We urge anyone with information, no matter how small it may seem, to come forward. Your tip could be the one that brings accountability and justice to the victim’s family.”
Anyone with information is encouraged to call 1-800-535-7867 or submit tips at www.CPDTIP.com.
