The Diamond Turner murder case ended in December 2025, when a Cook County jury convicted Arthur Hilliard, a 52-year-old man who had been in a relationship with Turner, of murdering the 21-year-old and concealing her homicide. Turner’s body was found in a trash bin in Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood on March 3, 2017. The verdict came more than eight years after her death and followed a three-year gap between the killing and Hilliard’s arrest.
What Happened to Diamond Turner
A garbage collector found Turner’s body on the morning of March 3, 2017, inside a trash bin in the 7300 block of South Kenwood Avenue.1NBC Chicago. Man Charged With Murder in Death of Woman Found in Garbage Container She had been badly beaten and strangled. The Cook County Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by asphyxia and blunt force trauma to the head.2Fox 32 Chicago. Murder Charge Filed in Strangling of Woman Found in Chicago Trash Can
Turner had last been seen on March 1, 2017. She left Red’s Lounge with Arthur Hilliard and went back to his apartment in the 7300 block of South Dorchester Avenue, about a block from where her body would later be found.3Chicago Sun-Times. Man Charged in Murder of Diamond Turner in Grand Crossing Her aunt, Latonya Turner, described her niece as someone who “was sweet as pie and would do anything for anyone.”2Fox 32 Chicago. Murder Charge Filed in Strangling of Woman Found in Chicago Trash Can
The Evidence Against Arthur Hilliard
Hilliard was a suspect almost immediately. Prosecutors later laid out what witnesses had reported at the time: Turner was seen in Hilliard’s bed the night she disappeared. A blood trail led from his bedroom to the back door. Someone watched him cleaning a hammer in his room. Others said they helped him haul a soaking mattress to the alley, where it was dumped. One witness spotted a black jacket resembling Turner’s protruding from the garbage can Hilliard moved to the rear of the building.3Chicago Sun-Times. Man Charged in Murder of Diamond Turner in Grand Crossing
DNA recovered from the floor of the apartment building Hilliard managed was eventually matched to Turner.3Chicago Sun-Times. Man Charged in Murder of Diamond Turner in Grand Crossing
The Secret Recording
As the case dragged on without an arrest, Latonya Turner and community activist Andrew Holmes recorded a conversation with Hilliard in which he allegedly described the killing in detail, including the location of the sledgehammer used to beat Turner. He reportedly blamed his roommate. Latonya Turner and Holmes handed the tape to police.2Fox 32 Chicago. Murder Charge Filed in Strangling of Woman Found in Chicago Trash Can
Why Charges Took Three Years
Police said they needed DNA evidence before they could bring formal charges. Interim Police Superintendent Charlie Beck attributed the delay to a significant backlog at the Illinois State Police crime lab.4Block Club Chicago. Man Suspected in at Least 3 Murders Charged Years After Woman’s Body Found Behind His Home CBS 2 later reported that the crime lab had actually sent results to Chicago police in March 2019, roughly a year before Hilliard was charged, raising questions about why the arrest took as long as it did.5CBS News Chicago. Arthur Hilliard Charged in Diamond Turner Murder Case
Hilliard was arrested on January 29, 2020, in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. Two days later he was charged with one count of first-degree murder, and Cook County Associate Judge Mary Marubio ordered him held without bond.6ABC 7 Chicago. Man Charged in Murder of Diamond Turner, Possibly Involved in 2 Other Killings
Latonya Turner said after the arrest: “It’s been three long years of agony and pain for our family. But justice is finally about to be served.”3Chicago Sun-Times. Man Charged in Murder of Diamond Turner in Grand Crossing She also criticized the DNA processing system: “They need to hurry up and get a better system with their DNA, because it shouldn’t take three years for him to be charged.”7NBC Chicago. Diamond Turner’s Family Grateful but Have Questions After Alleged Killer Arrested
Hilliard’s Other Alleged Killings
At the bond hearing, prosecutors said Hilliard was a suspect in two additional homicides. His record already included six misdemeanor assault or battery charges, all dropped before the Turner case.5CBS News Chicago. Arthur Hilliard Charged in Diamond Turner Murder Case
In September 2018, the body of 43-year-old Andre Williams was found stabbed to death in a shopping cart on Chicago’s West Side. Hilliard pleaded guilty to concealing that homicide and was sentenced to roughly 300 days in jail. He was not charged with Williams’s murder.4Block Club Chicago. Man Suspected in at Least 3 Murders Charged Years After Woman’s Body Found Behind His Home At the plea hearing, Judge Nicholas Ford said, “It’s not a murder case,” and added, “What I’m doing today doesn’t mean it will never be a murder case.”8ABC 7 Chicago. Punishment for Concealing a Killing in Chicago
Prosecutors also named Hilliard as a suspect in a third homicide, an unnamed person stabbed to death in an apartment complex after an argument. No charges have been filed in that case in the available reporting.9NBC Chicago. Man Held Without Bond in Woman’s Murder Is Suspect in 2 More Hilliard was on probation for the Williams concealment conviction when he was arrested for Turner’s murder.4Block Club Chicago. Man Suspected in at Least 3 Murders Charged Years After Woman’s Body Found Behind His Home
Andre Williams’s sister, Shawndra Williams, suggested that a more timely arrest in the Turner case might have prevented her brother’s death.5CBS News Chicago. Arthur Hilliard Charged in Diamond Turner Murder Case
The 2025 Trial and Verdict
On December 5, 2025, a jury found Hilliard guilty on all three counts, including murder and concealing a homicide.10ABC 7 Chicago. Arthur Hilliard Found Guilty of Killing Diamond Turner He was scheduled to return to court in 2026 for post-trial motions.11Yahoo News. Man Found Guilty of Killing 21-Year-Old Diamond Turner No appeal had been filed as of the most recent reporting.
Turner’s Case and the Unforgotten 51
Turner’s murder drew wider attention because of where it fit. In 2014, retired investigative journalist Thomas Hargrove and his nonprofit Murder Accountability Project used a computer algorithm to flag 51 unsolved strangulations of women on Chicago’s South and West Sides dating back to 2001. The victims were overwhelmingly women of color, and many were found in alleys, vacant lots, or trash containers. Hargrove concluded the killings were likely the work of one or more serial offenders.12Chicago Sun-Times. Unforgotten 51: Chicago Homicides
The findings prompted the Chicago City Council to request an analysis and led to a joint CPD-FBI task force in 2019 that assigned six detectives to re-examine evidence. Of the 51 cases, Turner’s is the only one that has produced an arrest and charges.13South Side Weekly. The Unsolved Cases of Missing and Murdered Women Community activists had warned since 2007 that a serial killer might be targeting vulnerable African American women in the city, citing insufficient police resources, victim-blaming by officers, and comparatively thin media coverage.14WBEZ Chicago. Activists Have Said There’s a Chicago Serial Killer Since 2007