CHICAGO, IL – Authorities have identified the teenage girl found brutally beaten to death in a West Side park as 16-year-old Kayla Aaliyah Joyce Love. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed her identity as police continue their homicide investigation.
On March 17, 2025, Chicago police responded to Horan Park, near Van Buren and Whipple, after receiving reports of an unconscious female. Officers arrived to find Kayla lying face down, barefoot, and unresponsive. Emergency medical personnel were called to the scene, but she was pronounced dead on arrival.
A preliminary autopsy revealed Kayla had suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries to her head and neck, along with stab wounds to her face. Investigators believe she was attacked sometime after being reported missing on March 16. She was last seen around 6:00 p.m. that evening at a McDonald’s restaurant near Roosevelt and Kedzie with friends. Employees at the restaurant reportedly asked the group to leave around 8:00 p.m. due to disruptive behavior.
Authorities are investigating witness reports that a female was seen being assaulted by a male at Horan Park on the night Kayla disappeared. However, it remains unclear whether this incident is connected to her death. No suspects are currently in custody, and Area 4 Detectives are leading the investigation.
Kayla, a junior at Manley High School, is the second Chicago Public Schools student found dead on the same day. Less than three miles away, police discovered the body of a 13-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the head behind an apartment building. Both deaths have shaken the community, with residents calling for justice and increased safety measures.
Law enforcement officials are urging anyone with information to come forward. Anonymous tips can be submitted at CPDTIP.COM or by contacting the Chicago Police Department’s 11th District at (312) 746-8386. As the investigation continues, the city mourns the loss of two young lives taken too soon.
