A repeat offender who had been released from custody on an ankle monitor allegedly doused a 26-year-old woman with gasoline and set her ablaze on Chicago’s CTA Blue Line on Nov. 17, Breitbart documented.
The suspect, identified as 50-year-old Lawrence Reed, allegedly filled a bottle with gasoline at a filling station, boarded the train, doused the woman and ignited her, leaving her with severe burns, Breitbart reported. The victim remains in critical condition at the burn unit at Cook County’s Stroger Hospital, Breitbart noted.
This attack came just months after a Cook County judge — Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez — had ordered Reed released on an ankle monitor following an August hearing, despite a long criminal history, Breitbart documented. The judge told prosecutors, “I can’t keep everybody in jail because the State’s Attorney wants me to,” Breitbart stated.
Prosecutors warned at the time that release would put the public at risk. Prosecutor Jerrilyn Gumila told the court: “The defendant randomly and spontaneously became irate in this situation where the victim was just attempting to do her job as a social worker, and now as a result, suffered injuries so severe that she still has side effects on a daily basis. There is nothing here indicating that the defendant was provoked, this was a random act, your Honor, and electronic monitoring would be wholly insufficient. It could not protect the victim or the community from another vicious, random, and spontaneous attack.” That warning is recorded in court coverage cited by Breitbart.
Reed’s criminal history is staggering: more than 50 prior arrests and multiple felony convictions stretching over three decades, Breitbart documented. Yet he was out on electronic monitoring when prosecutors say he launched the Nov. 17 attack.
Critics point to systemic failures in Cook County’s pretrial-release and monitoring systems. WTTW reported earlier this year on problems and staffing concerns in the county’s electronic-monitoring program — problems that defenders of release policies say complicate public-safety decisions.
The incident adds to a grim pattern of violence on Chicago transit: past reporting has documented multiple violent attacks on the CTA in recent years, fueling fears that pretrial-release practices and monitoring gaps are putting riders at risk, Breitbart noted.
Federal charges were announced Nov. 21 as the case drew national attention, and local leaders have been forced to answer why someone with Reed’s record was on the streets — and on public transit — while under electronic supervision, Breitbart documented. It raises the urgent question: will Cook County reform a system that prosecutors say was insufficient to protect a random victim on a train?
What comes next: investigators and prosecutors will pursue federal charges as officials and residents demand answers — and conservatives warn this is exactly what “soft-on-crime” policies produce. We will be watching whether county leaders move to overhaul monitoring and pretrial release in the days ahead, WTTW reported.
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Steeve Strange is the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Scoop. A passionate defender of conservative values and constitutional freedoms, he founded The Scoop to deliver truthful, America First journalism. Contact: [email protected]
