In the winter of 2015, the life of 68-year-old Tate Hatchett Jr., a retired CTA worker from Chicago, was tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence in Gary, Indiana. On a cold Saturday night in early January, Hatchett was doing a favor for a friend, helping with pizza deliveries for Rico's Pizza. Accompanied by his partner of 31 years, Helen Frierson, he set out on a delivery that would be his last.
The call led them to what they would soon discover was an abandoned home, a
detail that foreshadowed the impending danger. As Hatchett approached the house to complete the delivery, he was ambushed by robbers. The assailants followed him back to his car, where a confrontation ensued. Frierson, who was in the vehicle, witnessed the terrifying moments as the robbers demanded money. As Hatchett tried to drive away, shots were fired.
Struck by the gunfire, Hatchett lost control of the car, which then veered off the road, striking a curb and crashing into a nearby house on Durbin Street. A neighbor witnessed the aftermath of the crash and saw Hatchett slumped over the steering wheel. In a harrowing final moment, he died in Frierson's lap. The robbers made off with approximately $150 and the pizza they had used as a lure.
In the immediate aftermath, a manager at Rico's Pizza noted that their delivery drivers had been the target of a series of attacks. Despite the public nature of the crime and the eyewitness account, information regarding any arrests or the identification of any suspects in the murder of Tate Hatchett Jr. has not been made available in online sources. The case, born from a simple act of helping a friend, appears to have left a family grasping for answers that have yet to come.
