Feb. 22--Friends say Marques Gaines had a knack for turning chance encounters into lasting friendships. The dapper dresser who worked at a North Michigan Avenue hotel was often the life of the party who gave his undivided attention to those with whom he spoke.
So friends and relatives were baffled after learning that Gaines, 32, had been punched, and then struck and killed by a cab in the early hours of Super Bowl Sunday outside Mother Hubbard's Sports Pub in the Near North neighborhood.
Police were investigating whether Gaines had been the target of a robbery or involved in "a verbal altercation."
Authorities said Gaines appeared to have been speaking with two men on the sidewalk near the corner of Hubbard and State streets when one of them punched him in the head, knocking him unconscious into the street. Police confirmed that the second man then rifled through Gaines' pockets and took several personal items before both fled.
Moments later, he was struck by a cabdriver who did not see him lying in the street, police said. The cabbie stopped and was not ticketed. Gaines was taken to an area hospital and later pronounced dead.
A family member said Gaines' debit card and cellphone had been stolen.
Nearly two weeks since Gaines' death, no arrests have been made as detectives review evidence that includes surveillance video.
"Chicago police detectives are analyzing the evidence and witness statements in this case to determine a motive in this tragic incident," police said in a statement.
The Cook County medical examiner's office is awaiting the police investigation before deciding whether to classify the death as a homicide or accident.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Area Central detectives at 312-718-4242.
With Gaines' funeral scheduled for Saturday in his native Georgia, his friends, family and co-workers at Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile remembered him as a positive force. A natty dresser, often decked out in suspenders, a blazer and a bowtie, Gaines was comfortable in his own skin, they said. He had worked at the Marriott for about three years, most recently serving cocktails at the hotel bar.
"He was just trying to bring out the light in the room," said Tim Kraemer, a co-worker who was with Gaines the night he died.
After ending their evening shifts, Kraemer and another co-worker met up with Gaines at Mother Hubbard's for an evening of drinks and music. The three went their separate ways about 20 minutes before the incident.
Kraemer said he has wondered ever since the Feb. 7 incident if he somehow could have prevented Gaines' death.
"You think to yourself, what else could I have done?" he said. "What if I had stayed a little longer? Could I have prevented this?"
More than a dozen Marriott employees plan to travel to Georgia for the funeral.
Gaines split his childhood between Texas and Georgia after both of his parents died during his youth, according to his cousin, Drexina Nelson. Nelson's mother, Phyllis, took him in, raising her along with her two children.
"We've always said we were brother and sister, but we were actually cousins," she said.
Introverted and bullied as a youngster, Gaines "blossomed" into a social butterfly while attending Northern Michigan University, Nelson said.
"He really learned who Marques was, and he learned what he really wanted done," she said.
After moving to Chicago in the late 2000s, Gaines fell in love with the city, making friends with people of different races and walks of life.
"It's like he found his family with the people in Chicago," Nelson said.
After the funeral Saturday, Nelson plans to host a party at her photography studio in Atlanta for friends and family to enjoy Gaines' favorite music and food.
"It's going to be something where we can let our hair down," Nelson said. "We can talk and celebrate this guy. We have to."
Chicago Tribune's Rosemary Sobol contributed.
wlee@tribpub.com
