The stabbing happened on the 12500 block of South Cranbrook Avenue just before 3 a.m.
Homicide detectives spent Saturday morning canvassing the crime scene for clues and questioning neighbors as they worked this murder case.
"We're searching for somebody we don't know who yet," said Hawthorne police Lt. Scott Swain. "There doesn't seem to be a motive yet. We don't know if it was a robbery. We don't know if the victim knew the assailant."
Police say the 28-year-old victim was stabbed several times. Paramedics found him dead when they arrived.
The victim's next door neighbors refused to talk to Eyewitness News on camera but spoke to investigators. They said they heard a commotion around 3 a.m., but by the time the time they got outside the scene was clear. All that was left was the victim in the stairwell.
"We know very little about him," said Swain. "What we do know is that he recently moved here from out of state."
Mina Plata told Eyewitness News she rented the apartment to the victim and his friend 2 weeks ago.
"They were nice guys. They were quiet," said Plata. "They said they liked the place because there was no one there to bother them and their parents live nearby."
Word of the deadly stabbing has the neighborhood on edge.
"In my heart, it saddens me that its right here but it doesn't surprise me," said neighbor Marylene Larison.
"I feel so bad and I feel so scared to live in this neighborhood now," said neighbor Atanga Benedict. "I have kids, young boys too."
Police continue to look for leads that will lead them to an arrest.
Anyone with any information on the stabbing was urged to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.
