Originally Posted by
tjspiel
Sure thing. It's hard to know exactly what happened. Certainly it was a brutal crime. It was a robbery however and not just a random beating. 38th and Chicago is known for a certain amount of illegal commerce and the victim probably knew that. Even if he wasn't trying to buy drugs, he was in an area best avoided after dark.
I seriously doubt that father of four IT specialist was buying drugs. He either gave them his money and then got beaten to death, or he got beaten then they took his money. However, the fact that the wallet was found at the scene leads me to believe the former is more likely. What criminal is going to pick through the guy's wallet, LEAVING FINGERPRINTS? A criminal would have taken the entire wallet and ditched it somewhere far away from the crime scene. No, I suspect the victim meekly handed over his money and then was killed. So, yes, having a firearm in that instance would have been beneficial. Having pepper spray would have been. Or a Taser.
Should he have been there at that time of night? Hey, I ride my bike at that time of night sometimes, but I live in a small town that's deserted then. If I lived in Murderapolis and wanted to ride to a buddy's house at 1AM I think I would put my pistol in my fanny pack.