Chicago train stabbing: Demetrius Thurman accused of recording fatal attack
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A man accused of stabbing another passenger to death on a Chicago train over the weekend allegedly recorded the attack and its aftermath on his cellphone, according to prosecutors.
FOX 32 Chicago It has been reported that 40-year-old Demetrius Thurman has been charged with murder in the stabbing death of 37-year-old Dominique Pollion, who was sleeping on a Blue Line train in the early hours of Saturday morning, when the attack took place.
Court records reviewed by the station showed Pollion slept in the train car for almost an hour without interacting with Thurman, and prosecutors said the men did not know each other.
Thurman allegedly approached Pollion from behind around 2:17 a.m., began recording on his phone, and stabbed him once in the chest near his heart and once in the abdomen with a bright orange-handled knife, according to court documents.
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Prosecutors allege Demetrius Thurman recorded the fatal train stabbing in Chicago and its aftermath on his phone, and that CTA video helped identify him as a suspect. (Cook County Sheriff’s Office)
Prosecutors said Pollion woke up screaming and tried to retreat down the aisle of the train car before collapsing. Thurman then changed trains.
Pollion was taken to a nearby hospital and died there later.
Prosecutors said video recorded on Thurman’s phone, as well as CTA surveillance video, captured the attack and its aftermath.
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A security guard speaks to a passenger on a Blue Line train at the CTA Forest Park station in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Court documents say that immediately after the stabbing, Thurman pointed the phone at himself and videotaped his face.
When the train arrived at the Clark/Lake station a short time later, a passenger alerted security guards on the platform. While outside the train car, Thurman allegedly turned the camera back to himself and said “someone grabbed your ass” before leaving the station.
Investigators gathered images from surveillance videos that prosecutors said showed Thurman’s face and sent them to Illinois’ facial recognition program, which led to his identification.
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Investigators claim a Chicago man recorded a fatal Blue Line train stabbing and its aftermath on his phone, and CTA video helped identify the suspect. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Police later issued a bulletin, and a Chicago police officer who had encountered Thurman a few days earlier recognized him. The officer said Thurman was asleep on the Blue Line train at the time and gave up his driver’s license during that encounter.
Thurman was arrested on Sunday. Court documents say the man was wearing the same clothing seen in the surveillance video and had a cellphone that contained recordings of the stabbings as well as photos of other passengers sleeping on the train.
Prosecutors said Thurman’s cousin also identified himself as the person seen in the surveillance videos and claimed Thurman admitted to stabbing Pollion. He was charged with first degree murder.
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FOX 32 reports Thurman’s criminal history includes disorderly conduct, DUI and a traffic arrest in 2023. The next hearing date is scheduled for January 20.
The CTA-related crime came under federal scrutiny after an incident in November in which a man set a woman on fire on a downtown train.
On Dec. 19, federal transit officials ordered the agency to submit a tougher safety plan within 90 days or risk losing a quarter of its federal operating funds.
