12th Cold-Related Death Reported In Cook County

COOK COUNTY, IL — A man found unresponsive in a backyard Sunday after falling down stairs on the Southwest Side is Cook County's 12th cold-related death of the season, the Sun-Times reported. A 56-year-old woman found Kurt Krueger, 57, around 4:58 a.m. near stairs in the 5100 block of W. 63rd Place, Chicago police and the medical examiner’s office said, adding that he was pronounced dead nearly two hours later.

The medical examiner's office said Krueger's death was ruled an accident, and an autopsy found that he died of head injuries from falling down the set of stairs, and cold exposure was a contributing factor, according to the Sun-Times.

The season's first few cold-related deaths were reported last month.

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