In the early minutes of October 13, 2011, the West Loop's Plush lounge at 1104 West Madison Street filled with weeknight chatter and music as 43 year old Toney Adewoye prepared to leave with a woman he had introduced as his wife.
An unfamiliar man, unknown to the owner and patrons alike, struck up a brief conversation with Toney. It seemed cordial until, in an instant, the man slapped Adewoye across the face.
Witnesses did not see a weapon inside the lounge.
Moments later, Adewoye stepped outside, where bystanders found him bleeding heavily from a stab wound to the neck.
A physician who happened to be a patron at the lounge that evening, rendered aid while the owner called 911, and Adewoye was rushed to Stroger Hospital.
He died from his injuries. Police told reporters that the confrontation followed unwanted advances toward Adewoye's companion and that the attacker fled into the early hours of the day, immediately after the stabbing.
The assailant climbed into a waiting vehicle across the street and disappeared into the night.
Despite witness accounts and a swift emergency response, the man who stabbed Adewoye was never identified or apprehended.
Years later, a wrongful, death lawsuit filed by Adewoye's estate against the restaurant's operator illuminated the sparse trail the attacker left behind.
Appellate judges described the killing as sudden and targeted, with no prior warning signs inside the room that might have foreshadowed the attack, and their opinion reiterated the central unresolved fact: no suspect had been found, and no arrest has ever been made.
