Reports: Slain Uptown Woman Owned Popular Hair Salon
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A woman who was found shot and stabbed to death in her Uptown neighborhood apartment was well known as the operator of a hair salon nearby, according to published reports.
Around 5 a.m. Sunday, Yolanda Holmes, 45, was found dead in her apartment in the Wilson Yard development, in the 1000 block of West Montrose Avenue, authorities said.
An autopsy Monday found she died of a gunshot wound to the head and multiple stab wounds, and ruled her death a homicide, according to the medical examiner's office.
A man who had lacerations to his face was found outside the apartment, police said. He was taken in stable condition to Weiss Memorial Hospital.
Holmes was the owner of the Nappy Headz salon, at 4141 N. Broadway a few blocks south of her apartment, according to a Chicago Tribune report. She often used the salon to host community events such as back to school parties for neighborhood children and birthday parties for her staff, the Tribune reports.
Friends speaking to the Tribune described Holmes as a seasoned traveler who filled up her passport multiple times, and a health nut who kept meticulous track of her diet and exercise regimens.
Holmes was also a supporter of new development efforts in Uptown. After the popular Target store opened at Broadway and Sunnyside Avenue, Holmes was quoted in the Local Initiatives Support Coalition's "Working Capital" newsletter as hoping her business would prosper "because of the people Target will attract."
She added that with the opening of the Wilson Yard development, and her children "now have a safe and stable home…. It's been a struggle but it just shows if we all work together, everything is possible," she was quoted in Working Capital.
On the Uptown Update blog, a neighbor reported seeing "a group of people outside (the salon) hugging and trying to deal with the massive grief" following the shooting that took Holmes' life.
No possible motive for the slaying has been disclosed, and a colleague told the Tribune she could not understand why anyone would have wanted to attack Holmes.
No one was in custody in the slaying as of midday Tuesday.
