Man charged with murder in CTA Blue Line train stabbing in The Loop
A man was charged in the deadly stabbing on a CTA Blue Line train early Saturday morning.
Chicago police said Demetrius Thurman, 40, was charged with first-degree murder and is expected in court for a detention hearing on Tuesday.
Police said Thurman was identified as the person who stabbed a 37-year-old man on a Blue Line train car at the Clark and Lake stop downtown just before 2:30 a.m. The victim was found dead after being stabbed in the chest and abdomen.
Thurman was arrested on Sunday by the Citywide Robbery Task Force.
This violence comes amid a renewed push and grassroots effort to keep cta riders safe after multiple stabbings on rail trains were reported in the last week.
The violence prevention group, Violence Interrupters, said they planned to ride the trains overnight. The group is starting an effort to combat and deter crime.
On Sunday morning, another stabbing was reported, this time on a Red Line train near 69th Street. In that incident, police said a passenger stabbed a man also in the chest after an argument.
In December, CTA said the number of CPD officers participating in the transportation agency's Voluntary Special Employment Program will increase from an average of 77 per day to 120, thanks to new funding in the agency's 2026 budget. The program allows Chicago police officers to sign up for patrols on the CTA on their days off.
But the additional officers were not enough for the Federal Transit Administration, which rejected CTA's updated safety plan. The FTA insisted that the CTA needed a more aggressive plan by March, or $50 million in funding could be withheld.