A former student was among two men charged with the strangulation of a Chicago public school system employee who was found in her West Side apartment, police said Tuesday.
The body of Tommie Lee Walker, 63, was discovered Saturday with a cord wrapped around her neck in her apartment in the 500 block of North Springfield Avenue.
Charged with first-degree murder are Leslie Baskin, 28, of 441 N. Springfield Ave. and Phillip Scott, 19, of 644 N. Avers Ave., said Sgt. Ted O`Connor of the Harrison Area violent crimes unit.
Baskin was a former student of Walker`s, O`Connor said, while Scott knew her from the neighborhood.
”She was a very, very kind woman,” O`Connor said. ”She always helped people in the neighborhood.”
O`Connor said Walker let one of the two men into her apartment Friday night.
The two have made statements alluding to the fact that they stole items from Mrs. Walker after killing her, O`Connor said.
Both men will face bond hearings Wednesday in Cook County Holiday Court.
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Mrs. Walker had worked for the school system for 37 years, said her daughter Felicia Hasell-Armfield.
At the time of her death, she worked at Piccolo Elementary School, 1040 N. Keeler Ave., as an instructional assistant, Hasell-Armfield said.
Though Mrs. Walker lived in a high-crime area, she was well known by neighbors and didn`t want to leave the neighborhood, her daughter said.
”She wasn`t afraid of anything,” Hasell-Armfield said. ”She used to say, `If I can help somebody today, then I will have a better day.` ”
Born in Birmingham, Ala., Mrs. Walker moved to Chicago in 1957, Hasell-Armfield said.
She was active in the political campaigns of Mayor Richard Daley, Ald. Percy Giles (37th), former Ald. Raymond Figueroa (31st) and Cook County Commissioner Danny Davis, Hasell-Armfield said.
Mrs. Walker is also survived by 10 sons: Ronald Parker; Hilliard, Leonard, Larry, Kenny and Arnold Walker; Wayne, Fred and Pierre Hasell, and Tony Leno; four other daughters, Linda Clark and Wanda, Yvonne and Kimberly Hasell; four brothers; three sisters; 17 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday in A.A. Rayner and Sons Funeral Home, 5911 W. Madison St. Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in the funeral home.