Prosecutors say an 88-year-old Roseland woman’s disappearance became a homicide case after police found her wrapped in a rug behind a bookcase in her home.
CHICAGO, Ill. — A 66-year-old Chicago man is charged with killing his 88-year-old mother after police found her dead April 7 in a concealed basement room of her Roseland home, ending a missing-person search that began when relatives said her daily messages suddenly stopped.
Authorities say the case matters because it moved from a family welfare check to a homicide prosecution in less than two weeks, with prosecutors alleging the killing happened inside the victim’s own home and was followed by efforts to hide her remains, remove her belongings and explain away her disappearance. Kevan Works is charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a death in the death of Daniest Graves, and a judge ordered him held pending trial as the investigation continues.
Prosecutors said Graves spent part of March 26 shopping with her sister and returned later that day to the house in the 10700 block of South Lafayette Avenue. By early March 27, relatives said something felt wrong. Graves regularly sent morning prayer texts, family members said, but none arrived that day. Calls also went unanswered. Her sister went back to the house on March 28 and was not allowed inside, according to prosecutors, who said Works told her he had last seen his mother the day before. Family concern deepened when Graves missed a part-time job and could not be reached about Palm Sunday church plans. On March 30, officers conducting a well-being check found Works at the home. Prosecutors said he told police Graves had gone to work on March 27 and that he had already filed a missing-person report, though he could not provide a report number. Officers forced open Graves’ bedroom door and found her phone inside, but not Graves, turning the case into a broader missing-person investigation.
Investigators later found Graves’ gray 2021 Ford EcoSport in a West Side parking lot. Prosecutors said a woman who had the vehicle told police she got it from Works in exchange for crack cocaine and had driven him and another woman back to the Roseland house. Authorities have not publicly named that woman, and they have not said whether anyone else could face charges. Police returned to the home with a search warrant on April 7. Prosecutors said officers noticed a blocked basement doorway, moved a large bookcase and entered a room where a cadaver dog alerted. Inside, they found Graves rolled in a rug and partly wrapped in black garbage bags and duct tape, along with blankets, clothing, mail and trash. An autopsy later found 17 blunt-force injuries to her head and body, as well as wounds to her thumb and forearm that prosecutors described as defensive injuries. Investigators also recovered a folding blade knife, a hammer, brass knuckles, another knife and a large bottle of bleach, prosecutors said. They also said officers found Graves’ purse and wallet in a garage garbage can and jewelry that appeared to have been cleaned and set aside. Authorities have not publicly described the final lab results from those items.
Relatives have described Graves as active, independent and deeply involved in church and family life. Family members told local reporters she earned a college degree in her 80s and had recently started a part-time community job because she wanted to stay busy. That public picture became important in court because prosecutors said Works tried to explain his mother’s disappearance by saying she had dementia and wandered away, while relatives said she remained sharp and still drove. Neighbors also said the allegations did not fit the quiet routines they associated with the brick home on the block. Venethia Reese, who lives across the street, said, “You don’t do that to nobody.” Another resident said the news was painful even for people who did not know Graves personally. The case also drew attention because police had already circulated a missing-person notice for Graves at the end of March, noting she had been last seen March 27 and drove a gray Ford EcoSport. What remains unclear is the full sequence of events inside the house before Graves died and whether investigators believe anyone helped move property or clean the scene.
At a detention hearing on April 10 at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pekara laid out the prosecution’s timeline and argued the killing was tied to money and drugs. Prosecutors said Works had been living with his mother since Thanksgiving 2025, though relatives have also described that arrangement as on-and-off. They said he had previously been barred from the home because of stealing and drug use, and they pointed to the missing car, the purse and wallet in the garage, and the jewelry set aside inside the house as signs of financial motive. Judge Rivanda Doss Beal ordered Works held pending trial and called the allegations “violence inflicted against the victim to get her things.” The defense asked the court to consider Works’ housing instability and mental health treatment. A public defender said he had been homeless on and off for about a decade and takes medication for bipolar disorder and anxiety. Prosecutors also cited an extensive record that included older convictions for theft, forgery, burglary and bank robbery, as well as a juvenile murder adjudication from 1976. None of those prior cases determine the new charges, which still must be proved in court.
The hearing and the days after it left family members and neighbors trying to absorb how a missing-person case involving a woman known for church attendance and steady routines had turned into one of the city’s most disturbing homicide allegations of the month. Michael Works, another son, said his mother never suggested she feared her son, making the accusations hard for relatives to process. He said, “The very last thing on my mind” was that his brother would hurt their mother. In court, reporters described family members crying and calling out as deputies prepared to lead Works away. One relative shouted, “Kevan, look at you,” a moment that captured the mix of grief, anger and disbelief surrounding the case. Outside the courtroom and on the block where Graves lived, the reaction was similar. Neighbors said they had seen heavy police activity at the house but did not know the details at first. By the end of the week, the public story had become one not just about a hidden room and a body found in a rug, but about a family left to reckon with allegations that prosecutors say began inside an ordinary South Side home.
As of Wednesday, Works remained in custody and the homicide investigation remained open. His next public court date is April 29, when the case is expected to return to court for another pretrial step while detectives and prosecutors continue reviewing evidence.
Author note: Last updated April 15, 2026.