Leanna Mayes, 11, did not hear the gunshots that took the life of her mother, Vivian, on Thursday, family members said, but she discovered the Markham woman lying in a pool of blood on the bedroom floor.
Later, Vivian Mayes’ fiance was found with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the chest, officials close to the investigation said. Authorities declined to say where he was found.
He was listed in critical condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, a hospital spokesman said.
Markham police on Friday were investigating the slaying of Mayes, 48, and the shooting of her fiance, but they would not comment on the case.
It was unclear when Mayes was shot, but she was pronounced dead at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in her one-story brick home in the 15300 block of Albany Avenue, a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
An autopsy determined she died of a gunshot wound, and her death was ruled a homicide.
Lillian Mayes, the victim’s mother, described her as a loving stay-at-home mom of three boys and three girls. Vivian Mayes received government assistance because she was legally blind.
“She was a character,” her mother said. “She used to tell me she could be a psychic. … She was a somebody.”
Vivian Mayes had lived with her fiance, who Lillian Mayes said was in his 50s, for a couple of years.
Four of her children were home at the time she was killed, relatives said.
Authorities said charges were not expected Friday night.
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trybarczyk@tribune.com
