Overview
- Chicago police charged Demetrius Thurman, 40, with first-degree murder in Saturday’s fatal stabbing on a Blue Line train at the Clark/Lake station around 2:30 a.m.
- The 37-year-old victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with chest and abdomen wounds and died there, according to police.
- Thurman was arrested Sunday by the Citywide Robbery Task Force near Canal and Adams in the West Loop and was scheduled for a detention hearing Tuesday.
- In a separate case, prosecutors say Pedro Villareal, 34, took a Good Samaritan’s dropped handgun during a Dec. 23 Pink Line fight, shot the 23-year-old in the wrist, then fatally shot 44-year-old Raymond S. Harrison; a judge ordered Villareal detained Monday.
- Detectives cited surveillance footage and facial recognition in identifying Villareal before Cicero police recovered a .380 handgun they say matched train shell casings, while federal officials say CTA must deliver a stronger safety plan within 90 days or risk losing 25% of its operating funds and the agency says its 2026 budget increases off-duty CPD patrols from 77 to 120 a day.