Who's Died On One Chicago?

Created by Dick Wolf, producer and creator of the long-running "Law & Order" franchise, "One Chicago" began with the premiere of "Chicago Fire" in 2012. The series centers on the Windy City's bravest: the men and women at Firehouse 51. With soap opera levels of intense drama mixed with thrilling, cinematic action, the series was a big hit. It soon spawned several spin-offs that included cop drama "Chicago P.D." and hospital drama "Chicago Med," as well as the short-lived courtroom drama "Chicago Justice."

Like "Law & Order," the "One Chicago" franchise has become known for its rotating ensemble cast of characters that includes a wide range of recurring guest stars, with new additions and fresh exits coming almost every season. However, even more than Wolf's previous franchise, "One Chicago" could credit its rotating cast to its characters' untimely deaths, as it has rarely been afraid to kill off central personalities. When it did, it often did so in heartbreaking fashion, and the episodes in which fan-favorite characters exit often wind up among the series best-loved and highest-rated episodes. 

Just because a character was part of the main cast didn't make them safe from the writers' ax, which was swung hard and often. Over the past decade and across the four series, there have been plenty of tragic deaths. Here, we've compiled the "One Chicago" passings that are most likely to draw tears.

She may have only appeared in a three-episode arc in "Chicago Fire," but Detective Bianca Holloway leaves a mark on the series. Her death in "The Last One for Mom" may just be one of the most devastating losses we've seen in the entire "One Chicago" franchise. Not just because she is a compelling character with a close connection to a main character, but because of the impact her death has on the little boy she leaves behind. 

Introduced as a tough undercover officer with the Chicago Police Department, Holloway asks Severide to watch her son, J.J., while she heads to court to testify in a critical case. Kelly and J.J. begin to bond, but things go bad when Holloway is killed on her way to court. Severide is tasked with breaking the news to J.J. in what becomes one of the series' most emotional moments. After Severide says a tearful goodbye, J.J. goes to live with his aunt, but tells Kelly that his mother had feelings for him, dropping another bomb on the audience with a gut punch about what might have been if tragedy had not struck. 

Whether it's by fire, shooting, or disease, death in "One Chicago" can come at any time and to anyone. Whether a prominent cast member, a recurring character, or a single episode guest star, nobody is safe. In the second season of "Chicago Fire," the dark hand of fate would strike a tragic and troubled recurring character — firefighter candidate Rebecca Jones.

Introduced as a member of a long firefighting lineage, all the men in Rebecca's family have served within the department in some capacity. Her father served as a high-ranking officer, and her brothers are both lieutenants. But her family does not believe women should serve as firefighters, and Jones is driven to prove them wrong and joins the crew of Firehouse 51. 

Unfortunately, her ambition proves problematic, as she is caught cheating on the firefighter exams and eventually proves to be a toxic presence that causes issues with the team. Just as she begins to fit in, her father orders her reassigned. Distraught by the betrayal, Rebecca takes her own life in "Until Your Feet Leave the Ground."

Some of the most exciting story arcs in the "One Chicago" series occur during crossover episodes. These crossovers include cast members from other "One Chicago" shows and characters from Dick Wolf's other major franchise, "Law & Order." However, these mashups are often filled with twists and turns, and tragedy is never far behind. That's precisely what happened when "Chicago P.D.," "Chicago Fire," and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" got together for a special three-part event story. 

The crossover begins when recurring guest star Nadia Decosta is kidnapped by a convict named Greg Yates, who finds a way out of the Chicago prison he is serving time in. Yates takes Nadia across the country to New York City, where the detectives of "Law & Order" work the case in the Big Apple. Unfortunately, Benson, Finn, and the crew of "SVU" can't get to her in time, and she is murdered by the escaped serial killer.

Nadia was introduced as a troubled teen addict and sex worker who is able to turn her life around and find peace thanks to the tireless efforts of "Chicago P.D." Detective Erin Lindsay. Her abrupt departure from the series was a heartbreaking turn for a character who audiences had been rooting for.

Appearing as a recurring character in the second season before joining the main cast in the third, Dr. Ava Bekker is an attending trauma surgeon on "Chicago Med." Her disturbing death marks the departure of no less than three important characters from the series in a chain of events sparked by her own vicious behavior.

Hailing from Cape Town, South Africa, Ava has a contentious rivalry with Dr. Connor Rhodes at first, but that eventually becomes a romantic relationship. When Dr. Rhodes' father Cornelius alleges that Bekker slept with him in an effort to extract a favor, Connor ends the relationship. 

Jilted, Bekker's dark side surfaces, and she overdoses the elder Rhodes on insulin as revenge. Though she attempts to cover up the murder, she is ultimately found out. Rather than face the consequences, Bekker commits suicide. Though it was enough of a painful loss on its face, it is the aftermath that added to the sorrow, as Rhodes is never the same after losing his father and his lover. He eventually leaves Chicago for good after the dual tragedies. 

In the first season of "Chicago Fire," Hallie Thomas seems like a physician with a bright future on the show. She's the former fiancée of fire captain Matt Casey and the pair have an on-again-off-again relationship that adds some soapy drama and makes them one of the more interesting couples on the series. 

However, her job as a resident physician at the Lakeshore clinic creates trouble for her at the tail end of the first season when she unwittingly discovers a drug-trafficking scheme being run out of the back of the facility. A man named Timothy Campbell realizes she's on to it and kills her to keep her quiet before setting the clinic on fire in an attempt to cover the evidence.

Though it's initially thought to be an accidental fire, the arson investigation quickly reveals the truth of her death. It is the series' first major loss, and it hit audiences hard, but they'd eventually get justice when Campbell gets tracked down and fatally shot by "Chicago P.D." star Hank Voight.

There are few more unexpected, and emotionally powerful deaths than the loss of Brian "Otis" Zvonecek in the "Chicago Fire" episode "Sacred Ground." It's a true television shocker, coming in the eighth season premiere, rather than a season-ender where viewers expect major losses, life-threatening events, and big cast shake-ups. 

A true fan-favorite, Otis was perhaps one of the most lovable characters in "Chicago Fire" and was a main series cast member for the entirety of its run ... until his death. However, with the crew throwing themselves into deadly fires week after week, someone was bound to meet their end in a blaze, and in this episode, Otis draws the short end of the stick.

After a massive explosion at a Chicago factory, Otis valiantly attempts an evacuation against all odds, and it doesn't go well. While Otis is suffering severe injuries, his crew is able to drag him from the smoldering rubble and get him to a hospital with a slim hope of saving him. With his friend Cruz at his bedside, however, Otis succumbs to his injuries in a tear-inducing loss that remains shocking today.

Played by Hollywood veteran Elias Koteas (who played Casey Jones in 1990's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"), Alvin Olinsky is a central figure of "Chicago P.D." before his horrifying death in the fifth season finale. Olinsky is a former soldier who returns home and joins the Chicago P.D., serving alongside Hank Voight for over a decade. His job sees him going on tough undercover assignments that often put him in dangerous situations, and he survives several shootouts before meeting his end. Despite all the narrow escapes in his life, from the army to the police department, Olinsky doesn't lose his life in the line of duty as he deserves, as he dies in prison.

After his partner Hank Voight catches up with the man who killed his son, he takes his revenge. Unfortunately, Olinsky takes the fall, as he is unwilling to point the finger at his old partner to save himself. Voight struggles to dig up evidence that would clear Olinsky, but just as he is able to strike a deal to get them both off the hook, Olinsky is stabbed by another inmate. Olinsky dies in the prison infirmary while awaiting trial for a crime he didn't commit. 

The "One Chicago" franchise doesn't just feature crossovers and cameos between its characters — it also features members of a single family spread across multiple shows. "Chicago Med" stars Nick Gehlfuss as attending physician Dr. Will Halstead, while "Chicago P.D." stars Jesse Lee Soffer as Will's brother Jay Halstead of the CPD Intelligence Unit. As a result, their father Pat Halstead recurs on both shows.

The elder Halstead shows up first in a 2017 episode of "Chicago Med" when he resists getting treatment for some serious medical issues. It becomes clear that the two Halstead boys don't have the best relationship with their father who feels let down by the way they live their lives. But when his situation becomes critical, Pat finally gets the surgery he needs and admits he may have been wrong about his two sons. Unfortunately, just a couple of years later, a devastating high-rise fire lands Pat back in the hospital, and this time his prognosis isn't as good. 

Though initially resuscitated by Jay, Pat is declared brain dead, and while efforts are made to keep his body alive, Jay and Will both reluctantly agree to let their father die in peace. The Season 4 episode "Heavy is the Head" features a funeral for Pat, with both his friends and family memorializing him in a touching tribute.

Season 1 of "Chicago P.D." had a very different cast than its later incarnations, as many of its earliest actors left the series. And one of the biggest who left the show early on was Archie Kao, who played Detective Sheldon Jin. An expert in surveillance, Jin is the Intelligence Unit's communications specialist. He also gets into a bit of trouble when he's blackmailed by Edwin Stillwell for information on his boss, Sergeant Hank Voight.

Stillwell, a sergeant himself with the city's Internal Affairs division, was on a mission to take down Voight for corruption. But in his quest for retribution, Stillwell crosses the line himself, using knowledge of Jin's sick father to enlist him in his scheme. In a jaw-dropping turn of events, Stillwell — crazed with frustration that Voight continually slips through his grasp — murders Jin for not getting him what he needs. One of the most dramatic twists early in "Chicago P.D.," the death of Jin was a wake-up call to audiences who may not have expected the series to kill off a series regular.

Perhaps disappointingly, though, series showrunner Matt Olmstead explained after the fact that Jin's death was written as a simple way to elicit shock among the audience. If that was the aim, though, it certainly achieved the desired effect, as Jin's early exit was a message loud and clear to fans that anyone could be next.

The death of Alvin Olinsky (Elias Koteas) may have been among the saddest deaths on "Chicago P.D." but it wasn't the first to rock the Olinsky clan. A year before Alvin is gunned down, his daughter Lexi (Alina Jenine Taber) meets a similarly tear-jerking fate in an episode that changes the series forever. She's introduced back in the show's first season, and it's Lexi who gives Alvin something to hold on to while his marriage is on the rocks. He tries his best to be there for his daughter when she needs it, but things aren't always cozy between them.

Nevertheless, by Season 4 the father-daughter relationship has solidified following several unexpected developments in their family life. Alvin even turns to his daughter when he becomes emotionally invested in a disturbing case. But that just makes it all the more devastating when in the episode "Emotional Proximity" an out-of-control blaze at a warehouse leaves Lexi fighting for her life. Unfortunately, even the care of Dr. Halstead isn't enough to save her, and Lexi dies from her injuries, leaving her father beside himself with grief — even briefly considering violent revenge against the arsonist responsible. 

The cast of characters on "Chicago Fire" aren't all frontline firefighters, with paramedics also serving at the firehouse. But there are also the crew's senior officers and administrators like Battalion Chief Boden and Secretary Connie. In 2021, actor Jimmy Nicholas joined the cast as Chief Evan Hawkins, who becomes the paramedic field chief for the department after serving in EMS District 7. Over time, Hawkins becomes close to his team, but particularly close with his subordinate Violet Mikami, and the two eventually became an item.

Being Violet's boss, Hawkins is often concerned about how their relationship might look, and it causes problems with the crew on a few occasions — particularly with Violet's ex-boyfriend and colleague Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende), who hasn't gotten over her. Troubles in their relationship continue to plague Hawkins and Violet when a major fire breaks out and Hawkins runs triage. The situation quickly deteriorates, though, and the entire building collapses, killing Hawkins in spite of Violet's desperate attempts to save his life. His death is a noble one, however, as he dies saving the life of Gabriel Hammond.

As emotional as Hawkins' death is, though, it might have hit actor Jimmy Nicholas the hardest. "Oh my gosh, I cried a lot," the actor told NBC Insider regarding his last day of shooting. "I wasn't expecting [the cast and crew] to bring me a cake and have me say a word, but I held it together for that, and then in the car ride after I was crying."