The 19th cold-related death in Cook County this season happened Sunday in South Shore.
The woman, 66, was found about 2:40 a.m. in the 7100 block of South Stony Island Avenue and taken to the University of Chicago Hospital, where she died about 6:10 a.m. from hypothermia due to cold exposure, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Hypertensive cardiovascular disease also played a role in her death.
The woman’s death was ruled an accident, the medical examiner’s office said. She remains unidentified.
Her death follows Cook County’s 18th cold-related fatality of the season, when a man was found unresponsive Dec. 26 in an alley in Logan Square.
The first confirmed cold-related death of the season happened Nov. 1 in Avondale.
Last season, 60 people in Cook County died of cold-related causes.
