CHICAGO, IL – A horrifying discovery at Horan Park has left Chicago shaken after police identified the brutally beaten body of 16-year-old Kayla Aaliyah Joyce Love.
Authorities rushed to the West Side park on March 17, 2025, after receiving a distressing report of an unconscious female. Officers arrived to a grim scene—Kayla was found face down, barefoot, and unresponsive. Paramedics were called, but it was too late. She was pronounced dead on arrival.
An autopsy painted a chilling picture of her final moments. Kayla had suffered severe blunt force trauma to her head and neck, along with multiple stab wounds to her face, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The high school junior had been reported missing just a day earlier. She was last seen at a McDonald’s near Roosevelt and Kedzie with friends around 6:00 p.m. Employees reportedly asked the group to leave by 8:00 p.m. due to disruptive behavior.
Now, investigators are piecing together what happened in the hours before her death. Witnesses claim a female was seen being attacked by a male at Horan Park that same night. Whether that incident is linked to Kayla’s murder remains unknown.
No arrests have been made, and police are urging anyone with information to come forward. Tips can be submitted anonymously at CPDTIP.COM or by contacting the Chicago Police Department’s 11th District at (312) 746-8386.
Tragically, Kayla’s death wasn’t the only loss the city faced that night. Just three miles away, authorities discovered the body of a 13-year-old boy—also reported missing—shot in the head behind an apartment building.
With two young lives cut short, Chicago’s West Side is reeling, and the search for answers has only just begun.
