Man Charged After Sleeping CTA Rider Stabbed to Death on Blue Line

A Chicago man is facing a first-degree murder charge after prosecutors say he fatally stabbed a fellow CTA rider who was asleep aboard a Blue Line train in the Loop early Saturday morning.

Authorities allege the victim, 37-year-old Dominique Pollion, had been sleeping on the train for roughly an hour when 40-year-old Demetrius Thurman entered the same car at about 2:15 a.m. According to prosecutors, Thurman approached Pollion from behind while holding a knife in one hand and a mobile phone in the other, using the phone to record what followed.

Court records indicate Pollion was still asleep when Thurman began filming and stabbed him multiple times in the chest and abdomen. Pollion awoke screaming and tried to retreat as Thurman continued to advance toward him. Prosecutors said Thurman then switched his phone camera to selfie mode before Pollion collapsed inside the train car.

After the attack, Thurman is accused of moving into another car. When the train stopped at the Clark/Lake station, another passenger alerted CTA security officers, who discovered Pollion still on board. Officials said the victim was wearing multiple layers of clothing, which initially made it difficult for officers to realise he had been stabbed.

While security officers were assisting Pollion, prosecutors said Thurman stood outside the train filming and turned the camera on himself, saying, "somebody got his a**", before leaving the station.

Pollion was transported by paramedics to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Investigators reviewed CTA surveillance footage and ran images through the Illinois Secretary of State’s facial recognition system, which led them to identify Thurman as the suspect, according to prosecutors.

Thurman was arrested the following day at 210 S. Canal St. Police said he was still wearing the same clothing seen in the surveillance footage and had his cell phone with him. After obtaining a search warrant, detectives recovered the video of the stabbing that prosecutors say Thurman recorded himself.

At his first court appearance on Tuesday, Thurman’s public defender told the court that he suffers from mental health issues.

Image: Chicago Transit Authority