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Second Person Charged in Death of Man Pushed From CTA Red Line Train

Detention of a 19-year-old advances the prosecution and raises questions about how a train door and emergency lever opened while cars were moving.

Overview

  • Prosecutors say 29-year-old Kyle Bickham was forced from a moving Red Line car and landed on the electrified third rail before being struck by another train, a death the Cook County medical examiner ruled a homicide.
  • On Sept. 16 authorities arrested 19-year-old Katlar Parchman and charged her with first-degree murder and related felonies, and a judge ordered her detained pending further hearings.
  • A 15-year-old girl was charged earlier with first-degree murder and remains in juvenile custody; prosecutors say four people acted together and that the juvenile and one man pulled an emergency lever to open the sliding doors.
  • Investigators identified Parchman using Ventra entry records, matching social-media images and train surveillance and cited phone searches as part of their case, according to prosecutors.
  • Two male suspects remain at large as detectives continue to seek witnesses and scrutiny grows over CTA safety controls for sliding doors and emergency levers that allowed a car to open while the train moved.