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Prosecutors say Dana Lawrence Reed lit a woman on fire aboard a train. Questions are growing about why he was back out on the streets despite a rap sheet reportedly dating back to the early nineties. Mike Tobin reports from Chicago that Reed will be before a judge again to determine if he will be held behind bars before trial, with pretrial detention a central issue in the case. On Monday, Reed was out walking the street despite a pending case for allegedly knocking out a woman, allowing her to ride the L train where a woman was set on fire. The family of the burn victim released a statement through Cook County Health, saying, “We’d like to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes as our daughter receives care for her injuries sustained earlier this week. We’re also grateful for the excellent care and support of the burn team at Stroger Hospital.” They added that the family will not be providing any more updates.
The criminal complaint against Reed says he went to a gas station, filled a plastic bottle with gasoline, and, twenty minutes later, was on the Blue Line train. He dumped the gasoline on the woman’s head; she ran, but he chased her down with the flaming remnants of the bottle and set her on fire. Mayor Brandon Johnson characterized the attack as an isolated incident and said that violence on public transit is not widespread, stressing that the city is building a safer, more affordable big city.
News outreach shows Reed has a lengthy history, with more than four dozen arrests in Chicago dating back to 1993. Nine of those arrests were felonies, yet he has served just over two years behind bars. Most recently, he was charged with aggravated assault for knocking out a social worker. The state's attorney requested pretrial detention, but Judge Teresa Molina Gonzalez denied that request, instead placing Reed on electronic monitoring. CWB Chicago reports that at the detention hearing, the judge said, “I can’t put everyone behind bars or keep everyone in jail just because the state's attorney has asked me to.”
The question now is whether a federal judge will maintain Reed’s pretrial detention pending trial. Dana Feckman, reporting alongside Mike Tobin, notes the ongoing legal debate and the serious charges stemming from the transit-on-fire incident.