A maniac allegedly recorded himself fatally stabbing a sleeping practice passenger on the identical Chicago Transit Authority line 26-year-old the place Bethany MaGee was set on hearth by a lunatic with a in depth rap sheet simply two months in the past, in line with prosecutors.
Demetrius Thurman, 40, allegedly crept up behind sleeping 37-year-old Dominique Pollion on the Blue Line practice together with his cellphone in a single hand and a knife within the different and hit report earlier than he stabbed Pollion within the chest and stomach round 2:15 a.m. Saturday, CBS Information reported.
Pollion, who had been asleep for about an hour, wakened screaming and backed away from Thurman, who pursued him earlier than turning his digital camera into selfie mode as Pollion collapsed, prosecutors claimed at Thurman’s first listening to on Tuesday.
Thurman switched practice vehicles and when the practice stopped on the Clark/Lake station within the Loop, a passenger alerted safety about Pollion — however he was carrying so many layers of clothes, it was not instantly clear that he had been stabbed, prosecutors mentioned.
Thurman, who was nonetheless recording the scene from the platform, then turned his cellphone towards him and mentioned, “Any individual acquired his ass” earlier than fleeing the station, prosecutors allege.
Pollion was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the place he died from his wounds.
The mindless assault was additionally caught on CTV surveillance footage. Thurman was recognized via a facial recognition program and was arrested the following day on Canal Road nonetheless carrying the identical garments he had on through the stabbing.
Police seized his cellphone and found the grisly point-of-view footage of the assault after acquiring a search warrant.
The lethal stabbing comes months after MaGee, 26, was using the Blue Line practice Nov. 17 when Lawrence Reed, a repeat offender with prior 72 arrests, doused her with gasoline and set her ablaze.
Whereas engulfed in flames, she managed to hop off the practice on the similar Clark/Lake station, collapsing on the platform, the place good Samaritans jumped in to assist.
MaGee was hospitalized in vital situation, struggling burns on greater than 60% of her physique.
Reed allegedly shouted, “Burn alive, bitch” when he was arrested earlier than he was locked up on federal terrorism expenses, which carry a most penalty of life in jail.
Thurman — who suffers from psychological well being issues, in line with his legal professional — has been charged with first-degree homicide. He’s being held within the Cook dinner County jail with out bond, jail information present, and is scheduled seem in court docket once more on Feb. 3.
Security has been an ongoing concern for Chicago’s public transit.
The Trump administration has given the company a mid-March deadline to enhance security or threat shedding $50 million in federal funding, in line with CBS.
In December, CTA introduced that dozens extra Chicago cops and safety guards can be deployed alongside the bus and practice system.
