Chiraq: Man shot to death in South Loop hotel lobby, "This ain’t Englewood," mother cries

Chicago's South Loop

The Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and its predecessor inn, McCormick Place Hotel, always had a reputation for violence not shared by other Chicago hotels that cater to the convention crowd. A rough place for sure--but not dangerous in the way Englewood is.

But early this morning there was a fatal shooting in the lobby of the South Loop hotel. "How did this happen? Here? This ain't Englewood!" the murder victim's mother yelled.

Sadly, this could be the beginning of a disturbing trend. On the Saturday before in the Congress Hotel-also in the South Loop two men robbed five people at gunpoint in a hotel room there.

Disclosure: I worked at the Congress for most of the 1990s.

Back the the Hyatt murder

From the Chicago Tribune:

A 25-year-old man was shot to death inside a Hyatt Regency hotel at McCormick Place in the South Loop neighborhood early Saturday, police said.

Courtney Taylor, of the 1600 block of South Paulina Street, was in a group of several men during a birthday party in the hotel lobby when a male attacker pulled out a gun and fired shots, police said.

Taylor suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

No one was in custody as of early Saturday.

As for these birthday parties, these are grown-up affairs that on a good day are only a major headache for hotel staff. This is how most of them work: A suite or a small banquet room is rented, the patygoers bring in their own booze and food--in violation of hotel rules--and drugs, smoke lots of cigarettes, play loud music, and raise hell for the most part.

Related post:

(Photos) The abandoned homes of Chicago's violent Englewood neighborhood