Slain South Side Family Identified; 2 Children Among the Dead

CHICAGO, IL - The family found slain in their South Side home Thursday have been identified as a couple in their 60s, their son and daughter, and the daughter’s two boys, ages 10 and 13, according to Chicago police, and they were found in various rooms of the house.

Autopsies are scheduled for today. Initial reports suggested all had been stabbed to death, but police are not confirming that until the autopsies. Also, early reports that the family members were tied up were not accurate, according to Chief of Detective Eugene Roy, DNAinfo Chicago reports.

The scene, however, was brutal and bloody.

The victims are Noe Martinez and Rosa Hernandez; their son Noe Martinez Jr., in his 40s; Herminia Martinez, who was in her 30s, and her two boys, Alexis and Leonardo.

The family members were killed sometime between Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning. Police came to the home Thursday shortly after 1 p.m. on a well-being check because someone in the home had not shown up to work and co-workers were concerned.

At a Friday morning press conference, police said the responding officers came upon a brutal, bloody scene. The doors were locked, and there were no signs of a break-in, police said. The home was not torn apart as if a robbery had taken place.

The six were found in the family home in the 5700 block of South California Avenue.

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• ALSO: 6 Family Members Found Dead in Their Home Were ‘Calm People’: Neighbor

Interim Police Supt. John Escalante at a press conference from the scene at 3:30 p.m. Thursday said officer saw a body inside through a window. They went inside and found a terrible scene.

“We are taking our time going through the residence to collect as much evidence as possible. ... We want to be very careful and very thorough,” he said.

A friend of the family told WGN the family members were “happy, wonderful people.”

The home in which the slain were found is just three blocks west of Gage Park High School. The 8th District added additional police patrols to the neighborhood, Escalante said, but there is no known threat to the area. Escalante said there is no sign at this time that anyone in the home committed suicide.

Police have begun a homicide investigation. The street between 55th and 58th was blocked well into the evening. Crime-scene technicians have been going in and out of the home all afternoon.