A second person has been charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Kyle Bickham, who was shoved from a moving CTA Red Line train earlier this month.
Katlar Parchman, 19, faces one count of first-degree murder, two additional murder counts, one count of aggravated battery of a transit employee and one count of mob action, according to Chicago police. She's the second person to be detained after a 15-year-old girl was charged last week.
Parchman of West Garfield Park was arrested Wednesday in the 200 block of North Keeler Avenue after investigators identified her as one of the people who allegedly pushed Bickham from a moving train Sept. 7 near the 69th Street station, police said. Parchman was ordered detained until trial during her first court appearance on Saturday.
On the day he was killed, a fight broke out on the train between Bickham and Parchman, the teen-aged girl and two males who haven't been charged, according to a statement from Cook County prosecutors. Police originally reported that three people attacked Bickham.
Bickham and the teen girl started arguing, and at one point, Bickham allegedly spit at the girl and hit Parchman, according to CTA surveillance footage reviewed by prosecutors. Soon after, all four attackers started repeatedly punching Bickham. One of the uncharged males choked him, while the other uncharged male pulled the emergency lever for one of the train's sliding doors as it was moving.
The 15-year-old girl grabbed Bickham by his head and shoulders and, with the help of one of the uncharged males, threw him out of the moving train, according to prosecutors. Bickham was hit by a train traveling in the other direction.
Witnesses allegedly heard Parchman say, "He shouldn't have bothered us."
Police were able to identify Parchman because she used her Ventra card to enter the 95th Street Red Line station the day Bickham was killed, according to prosecutors. After she was arrested and her phone was searched, investigators found she had allegedly looked up “good places to lay low” and “who are the police looking for."
Cook County medical examiner’s office determined Bickham died of multiple injuries from the train hitting him and ruled his death a homicide.
A 15-year-old girl was previously charged with murder, mob action and felony assault of a transit employee in connection with Bickham’s death. She was also ordered detained.
