Prosecutors said a male recorded cellphone video of himself fatally stabbing a sleeping man on a Chicago train in an unprovoked attack early Saturday morning, WGN-TV reported.
Police responded to the Clark and Lake station just before 2:30 a.m. for a report of a stabbing, WGN said.
‘Somebody got his ass.’
The victim, Dominique Pollion, had been asleep on the CTA Blue Line train for about an hour and had no interactions with the attacker before the stabbing, the station said, citing court documents. Police said the victim was 37 years old.
Prosecutors said Demetrius Thurman, 40, entered the train just before 2:20 a.m. and walked up behind Pollion while holding his phone in his right hand and a knife in his left hand, WGN reported.
Thurman began recording and allegedly stabbed Pollion once in the chest and once in the abdomen, the station said.
Pollion screamed, backed away down the aisle, and then collapsed, WGN said.
Thurman was accused of fleeing between train cars and then recording the scene through the window once the train stopped at Clark and Lake, the station said.
He allegedly told security officers “somebody got his ass” before leaving the station, WGN reported.
Security officers initially did not know Pollion had been stabbed since he was wearing multiple layers of clothing, the station said.
Paramedics found the stab wounds, WGN reported, but Pollion was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Detectives recovered CTA surveillance video of the incident, the station said, adding that Thurman was identified through the secretary of state’s facial recognition program using a still photo taken from the surveillance video.
In addition, a Chicago police officer recognized Thurman from a police bulletin about the stabbing, remembering he interacted with him a few days before on a Blue Line train, WGN reported.
Thurman was arrested Sunday wearing the same clothes he wore during the incident, the station said, citing documents. WGN said in its video report that Thurman also had the cell phone in his possession.
A relative of Thurman identified him to detectives, the station said, citing court documents — and he reportedly admitted to the crime.
A judge ordered Thurman detained during a Tuesday hearing on a first-degree murder charge, WGN reported.
His criminal history includes three traffic offenses — most recently in 2023 — as well as a DUI in 2017 and a disorderly conduct in 2014, the station said.
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Chicago, Murder charge, Unprovoked attack, Train, Fatal stabbing, Cellphone video, Arrest, Crime
