Stabbing victim found dead

Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man whose body was found yesterday in his Near East Side apartment.

Police responded to 1074 Fair Ave. shortly before 11 a.m. on a report of a stabbing and found the victim in his upstairs apartment, said Sgt. Rich Brooks.

Medics pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

Neighbors didn’t report hearing a struggle or seeing anything unusual in the neighborhood south of E. Broad Street and east of Parsons Avenue. Police didn’t identify the victim or provide details about his death yesterday.

Jesse James, who lives downstairs in the same building, said he went into the victim’s room after his landlord found the man unconscious upstairs. The man was on his bed with a small stab wound in his abdomen, James said. There wasn’t much blood or evidence of a struggle, he said.

James and other neighbors said the duplex is run as a boarding house and is split into several rooms that are often leased to single men. Thelbert King, who lives next door, said the landlord comes every week to check on his tenants. James said the house is rigged with several surveillance cameras inside for security.

Jay Hughes, who lives a few doors down, said the home has been “a problem house, so to speak,” with people often coming and going at odd hours.

Neighbors knew little about the man who was found dead. James didn’t know his full name but said he worked for a recycling company. He had lived in the house for at least a year, one neighbor said.