Singer’s death investigated

Law enforcement authorities in suburban Chicago are investigating the death of a Costa Mesa bar owner and singer for the punk band MIA who was found with head wounds outside a motel near O’Hare Airport Thursday morning.

A woman found Michael Conley, owner of The Avalon Bar, lying in the parking lot of the O’Hare Kitchenette Motel in unincorporated Leyden Township near Melrose Park.

Conley, who was unresponsive, was found near the curb and had a serious head injury, said Penny Mateck, a spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.

The woman tried to revive him with CPR and later called 9-1-1.

Conley was taken to Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead that evening.

The case will remain under investigation pending the results of toxicology tests, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Mateck said someone who had been with Conley at the hotel faced felony theft and other charges after allegedly stealing his cellphone and two credit cards, one of which was used at a nearby store.

Conley had been in Chicago for about 10 days to work on a building renovation project, Mateck said, and authorities are unsure why he was found outside of the city with no car. Investigators, according to Mateck, suspect Conley suffered the head injury after he fell, the Chicago Tribune reported.

A friend of Conley’s said Friday he was surprised to learn about Conley’s death.

“He was very street wise and very in touch with his surroundings. He’s not somebody who would get caught off-guard,” said Jeff “Meatball” Tulinius.