Michael K Redmond

Michael K. Redmond was a 31-year-old man who lived in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Public records and contemporaneous news reporting identify him by name and neighborhood; those reports note he was 31 at the time of his death on May 17, 2011. While the public record offers only limited personal details, the elements that are recorded — his name, his age, and his ties to the Englewood community — point to a real person with roots and relationships in a neighborhood that has long been home to many families.

Those who knew Michael would best remember him for the ordinary, human ways people make a neighborhood: being present on his front porch, interacting with neighbors, and living his daily life among friends and family in Englewood. Although news accounts from May 17, 2011 focus on the violent way his life ended, it is important to center the person — Michael’s life, not solely the circumstances of his death. The facts available in public sources do not provide a fuller portrait of his work, hobbies, or family relationships, and out of respect for accuracy and privacy those details are not invented here.

Michael’s death on May 17, 2011 is part of the larger context of loss experienced by families and neighborhoods across Chicago. Remembering him begins by acknowledging his full humanity: a son, a neighbor, and a person whose life mattered to those close to him. For anyone who loved Michael, these few public facts cannot capture the whole of who he was; they can, however, serve as a prompt to offer private remembrances, photographs, or messages that honor the particular warmth, humor, and relationships that defined his life to those who knew him best.

If family members or friends wish to provide additional verified details for a fuller memorial — such as birth date, family names, occupations, or memories to share — those contributions would allow this remembrance to better reflect Michael’s life beyond the public record.