Twenty-six-year-old Bethany MaGee has been formally identified as the victim of a harrowing attack aboard a downtown Chicago metro train on the evening of November 17, when a stranger allegedly poured a flammable liquid over her and ignited it while the train traversed the city’s Loop district. The suspect, Lawrence Reed, aged 50, now faces federal terrorism charges for violence against a mass transportation system.
According to the criminal complaint and news reports, the attack occurred shortly before 9:30 pm on the CTA Blue Line near the Clark & Lake station in the Loop. MaGee was travelling when Reed allegedly approached her from behind while she sat with her back to him, poured the contents of a plastic beverage bottle over her head and body, and then ignited the liquid with a lighter. MaGee attempted to flee, but the assailant pursued her, retrieved the flaming bottle, and used it to set her ablaze, according to the affidavit. She managed to exit the train and collapsed on the platform, where responding paramedics found her with severe burns covering a substantial portion of her body.
MaGee, originally from Upland, Indiana, is employed as a business research analyst by Caterpillar Inc. after graduating from Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute, according to media profiles. Her father, Dr Gregory MaGee, is a professor of Biblical studies at Taylor University in Indiana. According to her family’s statement, she remains hospitalised in critical condition and has asked for privacy while recovering.
The suspect, Lawrence Reed, has a documented criminal history spanning decades. Prosecutors allege over 70 prior arrests — 72 in some accounts — and more than 50 criminal cases in Cook County dating back to 1993, including multiple felonies. Court documents indicate Reed had been released from custody in August with an electronic ankle monitor following a violent assault on a social worker at a psychiatric hospital, despite prosecutors warning that his next offence “would likely be violent.”