CHICAGO – A routine evening commute on Chicago’s iconic L train turned into a scene from a nightmare on November 17, 2025, when 26-year-old Bethany MaGee was doused in gasoline and set on fire by a serial offender with a rap sheet longer than most prison sentences. The horrific attack, captured on chilling surveillance footage, has ignited a firestorm of public fury, federal intervention, and blistering criticism of the city’s criminal justice system – with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasting Chicago’s “carelessness” for allowing a thug with 72 prior arrests to roam free.

MaGee, a vibrant graphic designer and lifelong Chicagoan known among friends for her infectious laugh and passion for street art, was identified by authorities on Saturday as the innocent victim whose life hangs in the balance. She remains in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, battling severe burns across her upper body and face, according to family statements released through a GoFundMe page that’s already raised over $250,000 from well-wishers worldwide. “Bethany is a fighter – she’s always been the one lighting up rooms, not fighting flames,” her sister, Emily MaGee, wrote in an emotional update. “Please keep her in your prayers; she’s got a long road, but her spirit is unbreakable.”

The assault unfolded around 9 p.m. on a crowded southbound Red Line train in downtown Chicago, near the bustling Loop district where commuters hustle between jobs and nightlife. Surveillance video, obtained exclusively by the Chicago Sun-Times and later released by federal prosecutors, shows the suspect – 50-year-old Lawrence Reed – casually boarding the train with a nondescript plastic beverage bottle in hand. MaGee, headphones in and scrolling her phone after a long day at her Wicker Park design firm, sat with her back to the aisle, unaware of the danger lurking just feet away.

In a matter of seconds, Reed unscrewed the bottle’s cap, poured the accelerant – later confirmed as gasoline – over MaGee’s head and shoulders, and flicked a lighter. Flames erupted instantly, engulfing her in a terrifying inferno. Panicked screams filled the car as MaGee bolted from her seat, the fire momentarily dropping to the floor. But Reed, undeterred, scooped up the blaze like discarded trash and hurled it back at her, ensuring the attack’s brutality. “It was like something out of a horror movie – the smell, the screams… I froze,” recounted eyewitness Tamara Jenkins, a 34-year-old nurse who was three seats away. Jenkins, speaking to ABC 7 Chicago from her Rogers Park apartment, described how she and two other good Samaritans – a college student and a retired firefighter – rushed to MaGee’s aid on the platform. “We smothered the flames with our jackets, called 911… she was whispering ‘Why me?’ as the paramedics loaded her up. It’s haunting.”

MaGee stumbled off the train at the next stop, collapsing in agony on the platform where first responders extinguished the blaze and airlifted her to the hospital. Miraculously, the quick actions of bystanders likely saved her life; doctors credit the intervention with preventing the fire from spreading to her airway. But the scars – physical and emotional – will be lifelong. Preliminary reports from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office indicate second- and third-degree burns covering 40% of her body, with potential nerve damage and a grueling road of skin grafts and therapy ahead.

Reed, the alleged monster behind the madness, was nabbed less than 24 hours later on November 18, after a tip led Chicago PD to a South Side flophouse. Federal authorities swooped in swiftly, charging him with domestic terrorism – a rare escalation that could land him on death row if convicted. The complaint, unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court, paints a portrait of calculated cruelty: Video from a nearby Shell station shows Reed purchasing a gallon of gasoline at 8:40 p.m., funneling it into the bottle with eerie calm before boarding the CTA. “This wasn’t random; it was premeditated evil,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros declared at a fiery press conference. “The state courts have failed time and again to contain this man’s violence. Federal intervention is our last line of defense for victims like Bethany.”

And Reed’s history? A ticking bomb the system ignored for decades. Court records reveal 72 prior arrests stretching back to 1993, including 53 cases in Cook County alone – nine felonies to which he pleaded guilty. His ledger reads like a crime novel: Aggravated battery, theft, drug possession, and just last August, a savage assault on a social worker at a psychiatric facility where he was briefly held. Reed allegedly knocked her unconscious, causing a concussion, optic nerve damage, chronic headaches, memory loss, and daily nausea. Despite prosecutors’ pleas, a judge released him on electronic monitoring – allowing freedom five days a week. He served a total of 2.5 years behind bars across multiple stints, the longest a 14-month bid for armed robbery in 2012. “Seventy-two chances to get it right, and Chicago let him walk every time,” fumed ATF Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher Amon. “Now an innocent woman fights for her life because of it.”

Reed’s court debut on Wednesday was chaos incarnate. Shackled and smirking in orange scrubs, he disrupted proceedings by belting out off-key hymns, babbling incoherently, demanding to represent himself as a “Chinese citizen,” and shouting “I plead guilty!” at random intervals. The judge, visibly exasperated, remanded him to Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center without bond, where he’s held in solitary pending a December 5 hearing. Prosecutors, pushing for the death penalty under federal enhancements for using fire as a weapon, argue Reed “poses a clear and persistent threat of terror to the community.” His public defender, citing mental health evaluations, has hinted at an insanity plea – but with his violent spree, empathy is in short supply.

The attack has peeled back the scab on Chicago’s transit safety crisis, where riders face daily threats amid a surge in violent crime. CTA ridership plummeted 20% this year, per city data, as assaults rose 15% – from slashings to robberies, often by repeat offenders cycling through revolving-door justice. Duffy’s viral tweet – viewed 3.2 million times – hammered the point: “Chicago’s carelessness is putting the American people at risk. No one should ever have to fear for their life on the subway.” Mayor Brandon Johnson defended his policies in a tense City Hall briefing, touting $150 million in new security funding and 500 additional officers for the CTA, but critics like Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi called it “too little, too late.” “Bethany MaGee shouldn’t be a statistic,” Salvi said. “She should be heading to work, not a burn unit.”

Public outrage boiled over on social media, with #JusticeForBethany trending nationwide and Chicago’s #EndTheCycle gaining steam. Vigils popped up at the attack site – candles flickering on the platform where MaGee fell – drawing hundreds, including CTA workers and activists from groups like Ride Free Chicago. “This isn’t just about one monster; it’s about a system that breeds them,” said organizer Jamal Watkins, a South Side pastor whose congregation lost a member to a similar train stabbing last year. Parallels to other tragedies sting: Just weeks ago, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska was knifed to death on a Charlotte Blue Line by Decarlos Brown Jr., a 34-year-old out on cashless bail despite violent priors and mental health flags. “When will we learn?” Zarutska’s cousin posted on X. “Repeat offenders aren’t ‘rehabbed’ – they’re reloaded.”

For MaGee’s loved ones, the fight is personal. A Brooklyn-born transplant who fell for Chicago’s gritty charm in 2019, she was weeks from launching her own freelance studio when the flames struck. Friends remember her as the “queen of mural nights,” tagging abandoned warehouses with messages of hope. “Bethany’s art was her fire – now she’s literally fighting through one,” her best friend, graphic artist Lena Torres, told local NBC affiliate WMAQ. The GoFundMe, set up by Emily, details mounting medical bills and lost wages: “Every dollar helps her heal and reclaim her canvas.” Donations poured in from Hollywood – a $10,000 check from an anonymous John Wick fan club – and everyday heroes, like the Samaritans who saved her.

As Reed rots in federal lockup and the CTA installs emergency flame-retardant panels on trains (announced Monday), MaGee’s story screams for reform: Harsher penalties for violent reoffenders, mandatory mental health holds, and a justice system that doesn’t treat arrests like mulligans. Duffy’s call to action resonates: “This would never have happened if this thug had been behind bars.” Chicago, the Windy City of second chances, now grapples with when mercy becomes manslaughter.

Bethany MaGee, if you’re reading this from your recovery bed – you’re not alone. Your fight is Chicago’s fight, America’s fight. Rise from these ashes; the world needs your light.