Chatham landlord charged with sexually assaulting tenant and murdering another woman in same apartment

A Chatham landlord was charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a tenant in the same apartment where he reportedly murdered another woman, according to Chicago police.

Jerry Powe, 58, was charged with first degree murder, aggravated sexual assault with a weapon and aggravated kidnapping, police said.

Police received a 911 call about 9:20 a.m. Thursday from a friend of a 28-year-old woman who reported being sexually assaulted at gunpoint by her landlord at an apartment in the 8100 block of South Ellis Avenue, according to reports from the Chicago police and the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication.

The 28-year-old woman said while the attack happened, she noticed another woman who “may be dead” on a couch, according to the reports.

Around the same time, Powe walked into the Grand Crossing District police station and “admitted to killing victim by strangulation,” according to the police report.

When police conducted a well-being check at the Ellis Avenue address, they reported finding the door locked, and no one answering. Fire department crews opened the door and found the unresponsive victim, an unidentified 36-year-old woman, unclothed and covered in a sheet, on a couch in the living room, according to the report.

She was pronounced dead on the scene by the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Powe was scheduled to appear in court Saturday.