CHICAGO (WLS) — There is new information Thursday about the man charged with lighting a woman on fire on a CTA train earlier this week.
The man has a long history of run-ins with the law and documented mental health challenges.
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The terrifying ordeal unfolded Monday night, on the CTA Blue Line, as the train was pulling into the Clark and Lake station.
Lawrence Reed has at least 14 criminal cases in Cook County going back to 2017, six of which are battery charges.
Records appear to indicate he may be homeless and suffering from mental illness of some sort.
In court Wednesday, federal investigators were unequivocal when it came to their description of the man they say set a 26-year-old woman on fire.
“Lawrence Reed had no business being on the streets given that his violent criminal history and pending criminal cases. Reed had plenty of second chances by the criminal justice system, and as a result we have an innocent victim in the hospital fighting for her life,” said Chris Amon, special agent in charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
A records search of Reed led to a long list of mugshots associated to crimes ranging from driving on a suspended license to battery.
In 2020, he was sentenced to a 24-month mental health probation after setting a fire outside the Thompson Center. And just a few months ago, in August, he was placed on electronic monitoring after he allegedly struck a social worker while “being held in the MacNeal Psychiatry Hospital” in Berwyn.
“It’s not punishment that is going to change the behavior,” said Dr. David Olson, a professor of criminology at Loyola University.
Olson explained why Reed was likely freed rather than held pending his trial, as had been sought by prosecutors in that case.
“It could have been the determination that given his circumstances being incarcerated versus continuing in whatever treatment programs they had would have been beneficial,” Olson said.
In court Wednesday, Reed’s erratic behavior included yelling several times “I plead guilty” while also insisting he would represent himself. It raised the question of whether his competence could make it hard to secure a conviction.
“I’m not aware of him ever being declared mentally incompetent in connection with any of the other extensive criminal history,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros said.
ABC7 Chicago legal analyst Gil Soffer said there is a very high bar to declare someone mentally unfit. The charge against him, however, one of committing an act of terrorism on a mass transportation system, is very straightforward.
“The government has to show he committed an act intending to cause bodily harm or death and that he did so on a vehicle of mass transit,” Soffer said.
It’s a charge that’s never been applied in Chicago before, but one that carries with it the possibility of a life sentence.
“It’s almost certainly the heaviest charge the government could have brought. And it’s not a reach for them. As long as he had the mental capacity to do what he’s charged with doing, the government could prove these elements of the crime,” Soffer said.
Reed is expected back in court Friday morning, when a judge will decide whether to keep him incarcerated pending his trial. He has been ordered to undergo both a physical and mental evaluation ahead of that hearing.
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