A man was arrested for a fatal stabbing on a Loop CTA platform after the victim, his ex-girlfriend, gave his name to police before she died.
“A key piece of evidence in this case came from the victim herself,” First Deputy Superintendent Eric Carter said as he announced first-degree murder charges against Alejandro Arellano, 31. ”She named Arellano as the offender before she succumbed to her injuries.”
While a police report names the 26-year-old victim, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said it was waiting for next of kin to be notified before publicly releasing her name.
Arellano followed the woman up the stairs to the platform of the Adams/Wabash L station around 1:20 a.m. Saturday, according to Chicago Police Public Transportation Cmdr. Joe Bird.
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He approached her on the platform and stopped her as she walked toward an arriving train, Bird said.
The woman tried to move away but he pushed her, pulled out a knife and stabbed her repeatedly, Bird said. She was able to run back down to the street before collapsing. Responding officers found her in the 200 block of South Wabash Avenue, a trail of blood leading from the station, police said.
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She was taken to Stroger Hospital with wounds to the abdomen, chest and left arm, police said.
Arellano fled on a train, but investigators were able to use CTA and police surveillance cameras to track his movements and arrest him about 15 hours later in the 1600 block of North Kimball Avenue, Carter said.
He was carrying a folding knife when he was taken into custody, according to the police report.
“Although this offender is in custody, there’s still a family at the center of this who is grieving the loss of a young woman who had her whole life ahead of her,” Carter told reporters Monday morning.
Arellano has been arrested once before, in August 2014, when he allegedly pulled a knife on someone. He was charged with aggravated assault but the case was dismissed, according to court records.
