File Under: WRONG, Part III

Usually, and unfortunately, we hear about cyclists being killed because of an accident. The following news item from the Chicago Tribune is not only tragic, but completely senseless.

Man Dies 8 Days After Beating by Youths on West Side

By Dan P. Blake
Tribune staff reporter

CHICAGO - December 21, 2007 - A 43-year-old man died Wednesday night, more than a week after a group of youngsters assaulted him on Chicago's West Side, police and family said.

Stanley Williams, who grew up in Oak Park but had recently been taking care of his ailing grandmother on Chicago's West Side, was attacked near her home in the 1000 block of North Long Avenue on Dec. 11, authorities said. He suffered head trauma and died at Mt. Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

"He told police he was walking down the street when he was struck in the face with a fist," Officer Marcel Bright said. "Then he fell down and at that point he felt like he was being punched and kicked."

According to his longtime girlfriend Erica McIntosh, Williams had been riding his bicycle about 4:30 p.m. that day before he was attacked by the group of teens. Bright said there was no description of his assailants on the initial case report, but McIntosh said witnesses described his assailants as neighborhood teenagers.

Police said no arrests have been made.

Williams' mother, Rosetta, said her son loved riding his bike year-round despite the weather and was probably returning home from his job as a cook at local restaurant when the assailants jumped him.

"All I understand is it was a bunch of punks hanging on the corner," Rosetta Williams said.

Police said they are awaiting the results of an autopsy scheduled for Friday to determine whether Williams died as a result of the battery.

Rosetta Williams said her son often would ride his bicycle through Cook County forest preserves to escape traffic.

A graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School, Williams was trained as a window installer and recently worked as a contractor for the Chicago Housing Authority, McIntosh said. Together they had two children, ages 13 and 17.