In the final days of winter 2017, the family of Diamond Turner grew worried. The 21-year-old female, a resident of Chicago’s South Side, had stopped answering her phone. They knew she had been out on the evening of March 1st, last seen leaving a local sports bar. When the silence stretched on, her family did what any concerned relatives would do: they filed a missing person report, hoping for her safe return. That hope was brutally extinguished two days later.
On the afternoon of March 3, 2017, sanitation workers were making their routine collections in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. In an alley on the 7300 block of South Kenwood Avenue, they made a horrifying discovery. Inside a city garbage can was the body of Diamond Turner. She was partially naked and had been left face down amidst the refuse.
An autopsy would later confirm the violence she had endured, revealing that the young African American woman had been beaten and had died from asphyxiation.
The investigation into Diamond’s murder immediately focused on Arthur Hilliard, the man she had been dating. From the beginning, Diamond’s family held deep suspicions about his involvement. Their fears were amplified by his strange behavior after her disappearance, including contacting them to ask if she had made it home. For nearly three agonizing years, however, there was not enough evidence to bring charges, and the case remained officially unsolved, a source of constant pain for her loved ones.
Diamond’s murder gained wider attention when it was connected to a terrifying pattern of violence in Chicago. A non-profit organization called the Murder Accountability Project used a computer algorithm to identify a potential serial killer, dubbed the "Chicago Strangler." They flagged a cluster of 51 unsolved homicides of women between 2001 and 2018 who were killed in similar ways, often by strangulation or asphyxiation, and left in alleys, abandoned buildings, or garbage cans. Diamond’s case fit the grim profile, adding a new layer of fear and complexity to the investigation.
The breakthrough her family had been praying for finally came in January 2020. After years of delays in processing, DNA evidence collected from the scene provided a definitive link to Arthur Hilliard. Police arrested the 52-year-old, and the story he initially told investigators—reportedly trying to blame a roommate—crumbled under the weight of the forensic match. He was charged with first-degree murder, bringing a wave of relief to Diamond’s family. "It's been three long years for me, my sister, my whole family," her aunt, Latonya Turner, said. "So I'm glad he's in jail and he's going to get what he deserves."
While Hilliard’s arrest closed Diamond’s case, Chicago police stated that they did not believe he was connected to the other 50 victims in the potential serial killer cluster. His criminal history included a prior conviction for concealing a homicidal death in a separate stabbing incident. The long-awaited trial finally brought a measure of justice for Diamond. In December 2025, a Cook County jury found Arthur Hilliard guilty of her murder.
Though her killer was brought to justice, the loss of Diamond Turner remains a profound tragedy. Her death was described as the cruel end to a promising life, and those who knew her remember a young woman who was loved and is deeply missed. Her case stands as the only one solved among the 51 potential "Chicago Strangler" victims, a somber reminder of the many other families still waiting for answers and the vibrant lives cut short by senseless violence.
