A judge on Thursday denied bail to a 17-year-old Chicago teen charged in the death of a 68-year-old church deacon at a North Side 'L' stop.
"You, Mr. Watson, are a dangerous individual," Judge Adam D. Bourgeois, Jr. told Prince Watson, 17.
The teen is accused of stealing an iPhone from a Chicago Transit Authority rider at the Fullerton station in April and pushing Sally Katona-King down a flight of stairs as he ran away. King, a Lutheran deacon known for her work with the homeless, died from the fall.
Prosecutors said Thursday that King suffered a fractured collar bone, skull, nose and ribs, as well as bleeding in her brain. They said Watson gave a videotaped confession and told police he heard screams but never turned around because he didn't want anyone to see his face.
But the defense questioned if it will be admissible. "They had no evidence in court to prove he did anything," said Assistant Public Defender Michael Mayfield.
Watson was charged Wednesday with murder and robbery, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
Video evidence from around the "L" station helped the investigation, police previously said, and close friends of King's say they've been praying every day for an arrest.
Investigators said he committed two virtually identical crimes after the woman's death, stealing iPhones from commuters at the Brown Line's Sedgwick station on April 17, and again at the Red Line's Clark and Division stop on May 15.
"That's how we became aware of him," said Area 3 detective Michele Wood. "We also became aware of him because an officer who saw one of the videos we had of the offender, thought it might be Prince Watson."
Guardian Angels will patrol Green and Blue line trains from 2 p.m. Thursday to 1 a.m. Friday following reports of a man in separate incidents robbing passengers of iPhones at knife-point.
