Altmann Mnyuku, 35, male, Black/African American, was shot in the early hours of July 31, 2025, on East 90th Street in Chatham on Chicago’s South Side. Police found him around 2 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the neck; he was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead later that morning. He had been driving for Uber to support his family, and loved ones later described the loss as a devastating blow for his wife and their young child.
According to prosecutors, the ride that brought Altmann Mnyuku, 35, male, to the 600–700 block of East 90th Street was lured into a planned carjacking. During the trip, the teen passenger exchanged messages with an associate known as “Trench” about taking the driver’s Jeep Cherokee at gunpoint. The passenger then shot Altmann Mnyuku, 35, male, with what authorities described as a “ghost gun,” dragged him from the vehicle, and tried to drive away before abandoning the SUV in the street. When officers arrived, the Jeep was still running; investigators later noted that an envelope of cash the victim typically carried was missing.
Within days, a 16-year-old from Dolton named Demari Taylor was arrested in Riverdale and charged as an adult with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and aggravated vehicular hijacking in the killing of Altmann Mnyuku, 35, male. Prosecutors said ballistics tied a seized 9mm “ghost gun” to a casing found in the victim’s SUV, and they alleged that at least one other person was present in the back seat during the attack but had not been identified as of early August.
In the days that followed, remembrances and obituaries honored Altmann Mnyuku, 35, male, as a hardworking husband and father, with roots in Tanzania and ties to South Bend, Indiana, who was out working when his life was taken in Chicago. Community memorial pages and fundraising efforts marked the date of death and location and gathered tributes from those grieving his loss.
