A 77-year-old man died Tuesday from hypothermia after being found inside a Garfield Park car, marking the second Cook County resident to die this winter from frigid conditions, according to authorities.
Jimmie Murray was found unresponsive inside the vehicle in the 2700 block of West Gladys Avenue Tuesday morning and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just after 10 a.m., according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. It’s unclear how long Murray was inside the car, but the temperature hovered around 25 degrees that morning.
An autopsy showed that Murray died from hypothermia and environmental cold exposure. He also suffered from hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to the medical examiner’s office. His death was ruled an accident.
Murray’s death is the second confirmed weather death for Cook County this winter season, according to the medical examiner’s office. Andrew Paul Young, 61, died Nov. 6 in Schaumburg from cold exposure. His death was also ruled an accident.
A cold front swept through the Chicago area Wednesday night, and National Weather Service officials reported below zero windchills Thursday morning. The high temperature Thursday is near 29 degrees, with gusts as high as 30 miles per hour.
City officials said they have more than 190 public facilities available for warming during the cold snap, including public libraries, park district buildings and City Colleges of Chicago facilities. Warming areas at six community service centers are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
