African American male, age 75, Muhammad Alameen was a fixture in Englewood, a barber whose shop sat on the 5600 block of South Racine Avenue in Chicago.
In mid-August 2013, on or about August 16, he was killed in the apartment above his business, a place he used as living space and, according to community reporting, was fixing up.
Neighbors and customers knew him for decades of steady work and quiet generosity; he had spent roughly 55 years cutting hair in the neighborhood, and he also
logged time as a construction worker and a truck driver.
Accounts from the time painted a portrait of a man who gave free back-to-school haircuts to kids and helped adults look sharp before job interviews, the sort of neighbor people described as always ready to help.
He was found beaten to death in that upstairs apartment; reporting published on August 19, 2013, noted the discovery occurred on a Sunday, and relatives believed whoever did it likely knew him.
Police characterized the matter as an active investigation and did not release further specifics.
The scene, above the barbershop at the 5600 block of South Racine, matched the location where his business was licensed, tying the man so many called “Al the barber” to the very corner where he worked and lived.
As for accountability, contemporary coverage did not announce any arrests, and authorities offered no public identification of a suspect.
The initial statements emphasized only that detectives were investigating and that the family suspected familiarity between the victim and his killer.
No subsequent public records or major-media updates have documented charges in the case.
