No progress in S. Philly murder

After six months, investigators still have no leads in the murder of a South Philadelphia gay man. Michael J. Fox, 30, was found in his apartment in the early-morning hours of June 22 in a pool of blood. Fox, who was pronounced dead at the scene, died of blunt-force trauma to the head, according to an autopsy. Fox’s apartment was at Eighth and Christian streets. He was last seen June 20. According to Philadelphia Police Detective Jim Burns, investigators have not made any arrests or identified a suspect or person of interest in the case. “Right now, we just have that the suspect was someone who [Fox] would have known and was in his apartment with him during the course of this. We don’t know who that person is at this point,” Burns said. “It appears that it was someone he was in the company of, and it just turned deadly.” He said detectives working the case have interviewed a number of people with whom Fox was affiliated. “We have talked to different people who we believe were in his company but nothing yielded any results,” he said. Franny Price, chair of the LGBT Police Liaison Committee, said community members should continue to follow up on the case. “I think if people were asking about updates all the time, maybe there would be more progress,” she said. Price said the committee plans to bring up the case at the next meeting. “We never received an update on his case, but I guess because of the amount of crimes that have happened in our community, it has been overwhelming,” she said. Signs of struggle in the victim’s apartment were apparent, including a knocked-over television, blood on the wall and misarranged furniture. Fox was a former barback at Woody’s and was an artistic roller skater who aspired to be a hair stylist.

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