Why would a person charged with 72 prior crimes be able to set a young woman ablaze?
Prosecutors warned a judge in August that Blue Line fire attacker Lawrence Reed posed a serious threat, saying an ankle monitor would not protect the public “from another vicious, random, and spontaneous attack.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday said he would not confirm the woman’s identity “out of respect for the family’s wishes.”
“This was a tragic incident, and the Mayor’s prayers are with the victim and her family,” he said in a statement.
At a news conference last week, Johnson said the Nov. 17 attack” should have never happened”. He characterized the violence as “an absolute failure of our criminal justice as well as our mental health institutions.”
He said the suspect was clearly mentally disturbed and a danger to himself and the community — “and now we have a woman who is fighting for her life,” the mayor said.