Her family is also upset that some passengers on the train posted grisly cellphone pictures and videos moments after the attack. It shut down one station for almost two hours. The woman was stabbed in the neck, a source said.
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First Deputy Police Superintendent John Escalante described the incident as “domestic in nature”, saying that the victim and the suspect apparently knew each other.
A family member who does not want to be identified said it’s clear Hampton was being harassed.
Jessica Hampton’s family found out she was dead through Facebook. Her family said they had only recently met the man – they had seen him at the halfway house.
The attack was witnessed by numerous passengers on the train auto and was captured by “an extensive network” of video surveillance cameras onboard, Escalante said. Investigators are examining surveillance video.
Trains are not stopping at 47th Street, and are only boarding on the Howard-bound side of the platform at the Sox-35th station.
Patterson was later informed that she and the victim are cousins, according to the Tribune.
“This wasn’t like her”, Rose said. The attacker sat across from them both when the man asked Hampton a question. “I did hear her say “no” and she shook her head no”, Patterson said. He stood up and started stabbing her.
“Everybody that was there taking pictures, and shooting videos and stuff didn’t try to help her”, Lorel said. Other people ran from the train vehicle.
The woman struggled with the man and fell to her knees. He grabbed her neck, slit her throat, and torso, and said something while standing over her body, according to police. But eyewitnesses said the attack appeared to be random. A police officer who was near the station the train was entering went to the platform and arrested the man.
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A few male passengers reportedly tried to help her, but couldn’t safely get past the man’s knife. Prince Watson, 19, was sentenced in 2013 to 32 years in prison for the murder of Sally Katona-King, 68, a mother of three. With bus-stop crimes included, overall crime showed a 23 percent decrease in 2015 over the previous year.
