UPLAND, Ind. – The 26-year-old lady set on hearth by a lunatic with a prolonged rap sheet on a Chicago prepare is “very soft-spoken, very mild’’ and an “extremely good’’ former honors scholar, a good friend mentioned Monday.
Sufferer Bethany MaGee’s “fantastic” church-going household is now reeling as she fights for all times, lined in grotesque burns, friends and neighbors mentioned.
”“We simply know they’re going by a tough time, so we’re praying for them,” mentioned a neighborhood who lives close to the household of their tiny tight-knit Christian neighborhood.
MaGee was using a CTA Blue Line prepare Nov. 17 when Marcus Reed, 50 — who has beforehand been arrested 72 occasions — instantly doused her with gasoline and used a lighter to set her ablaze, authorities mentioned.
“She [is] extremely good. Very delicate spoken, very mild. Very good,” a former high-school classmate informed The Submit.
The younger man, who goes by Ethan, mentioned MaGee was an avid reader who took honors lessons at their highschool in Indiana.
MaGee hails from Upland, an enclave of fewer than 4,000 folks dwelling to Taylor College.
She was raised by a doting household, the neighbor mentioned.
“They’re an exquisite household. …About as loving as you may be,” the resident mentioned, stressing the mother and father’ need for privateness as they course of the tragedy.
Reed has 22 prior arrests since 2016 alone and 53 legal instances in Prepare dinner County courting again to 1993 — 9 of them felonies for which he pleaded responsible, officers mentioned.
However Prepare dinner County Choose Teresa Molina-Gonzalez freed Reed on a felony aggravated battery cost for slapping a social employee so arduous that she was knocked out throughout an Aug. 19 assault contained in the psychiatric ward of the MacNeal Hospital, court docket information present.
A choose let Reed stroll free with an ankle monitor regardless of the prosecution’s request to maintain him behind bars.
“This is able to by no means have occurred if this thug had been behind bars. But Chicago lets repeat offenders roam the streets,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy raged on social media Sunday.
Reed now faces federal terrorism fees linked to the mindless assault in opposition to MaGee.
“It feels like he’s coping with severe mental-health points, not that that’s an excuse,” Ethan mentioned.
“It’s tragic and disturbing. I keep in mind my first ideas had been, ‘You hear about plenty of crimes, however that simply appears so extraordinarily violent.’ “
Surveillance footage confirmed a person matching Reed’s description creep up behind MaGee round 9:30 p.m. and douse her with liquid from a bottle. MaGee tried to flee, however the man chased her down and ignited the gas.
MaGee staggered off the prepare on the subsequent cease however collapsed on the platform. The lady sustained extreme burns to her face and physique and stays in crucial situation, CBS 6 reported Monday.
