😱 ANOTHER IRYNA ZARUTSK A HORROR? A 26-year-old woman’s scream pierces the Chicago subway as a ‘serial monster’ with 72 arrests – fresh off an ankle monitor – douses her in gas and ignites her alive, taunting ‘Burn, b**!’ Why was this predator roaming free to torch an innocent commuter? The chilling echo of that fatal Charlotte stabbing has America raging over broken justice – is your daily ride a death trap? Click for the gut-wrenching details, victim ID, and the policy failures that could strike next. Demand change before it’s too late!

The flames that engulfed Bethany MaGee on a Chicago Blue Line train last week have not only scarred her body but reignited a national firestorm over repeat offenders and faltering criminal justice reforms. The 26-year-old business analyst, doused in gasoline and set alight by a serial criminal with 72 prior arrests, survived the inferno but remains in critical condition with burns covering 60% of her body. Her attacker, Lawrence Reed, 50, was freed just months earlier on an ankle monitor despite prosecutors’ dire warnings of his volatility – a decision now under intense scrutiny as critics draw stark parallels to the August stabbing death of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail, where another habitual offender struck with lethal impunity.

MaGee’s ordeal unfolded on November 17 around 8:45 p.m. aboard a westbound Blue Line train in the Loop, Chicago’s bustling financial district. Surveillance footage, detailed in a federal affidavit, captures Reed boarding with a plastic bottle filled with gasoline purchased 20 minutes earlier at a Garfield Park Mobil station. Seated behind MaGee, who was engrossed in her phone after a long day at Caterpillar Inc., Reed allegedly initiated a verbal confrontation over an unspecified grievance. What followed was a torrent of liquid and fire: Reed poured the accelerant over her head and shoulders, then ignited it with a lighter, yelling “Burn alive b****!” as flames erupted across her clothing and skin.

In a desperate bid for survival, MaGee bolted toward the front of the car, clawing at the door as the train pulled into Clark/Lake station. She stumbled onto the platform, engulfed in fire, before collapsing in a heap. Bystanders – a mix of office workers and tourists – reacted heroically: one man used his jacket to smother the blaze, while another called 911, his voice cracking over the line: “She’s on fire! Oh God, she’s burning alive!” Paramedics from the Chicago Fire Department arrived within minutes, airlifting MaGee to Stroger Hospital’s burn unit, where she underwent multiple skin grafts and debridement procedures. As of Monday, her family reported she was “fighting with unbreakable spirit,” though doctors warn of a grueling recovery involving potential nerve damage and psychological trauma.

MaGee, a Upland, Indiana native and Taylor University alumna, embodied the quiet ambition of young professionals navigating big-city life. The daughter of Dr. Gregory MaGee, a Biblical studies professor, she had relocated to Chicago two years prior for her role at Caterpillar, analyzing market trends for heavy machinery sales. Colleagues described her as “the heartbeat of our team – always with a smile and a coffee run for everyone.” An avid animal lover, her Instagram brimmed with photos of shelter rescues and weekend hikes, a digital testament to a life derailed in seconds. Her parents, in a statement via Caterpillar’s employee fund, pleaded: “Bethany came to Chicago chasing dreams; now we pray she reclaims her light. Hold your loved ones tight – this could happen to anyone.” A GoFundMe has surged past $300,000, fueled by donations from Caterpillar’s global network and viral posts tagging #PrayForBethany.

Reed’s swift apprehension the next morning amplified the horror. Chicago Police located him near Washington Street, still in soot-stained clothes with burns on his right hand – self-inflicted remnants of his arson. A CTA transit card linked him to the train, and body-cam footage captured his unrepentant rants in custody: echoes of “Burn b****” that prosecutors say betrayed a chilling intent to terrorize. On November 21, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cummings ordered him held without bail on federal terrorism charges under 18 U.S.C. § 2332b, which could mean life in prison – or the death penalty if MaGee succumbs to her injuries.

But Reed’s freedom until that fateful night has become the story’s searing indictment. Court records reveal a rap sheet spanning three decades: 72 arrests in Cook County alone, including eight felonies for arson, drug trafficking, and aggravated battery; seven misdemeanors; and 13 convictions. Diagnosed with schizophrenia and pyromania, he had been involuntarily committed multiple times, yet compliance with treatment was erratic. Just three months prior, in August 2025, Reed assaulted a social worker at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn during a psychiatric evaluation, prompting an aggravated battery charge.

Prosecutors begged Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos-Ciesil to detain him pretrial, arguing in filings: “Defendant poses a serious danger to society, with a propensity for random violence exacerbated by untreated mental illness.” Despite this, the judge opted for electronic monitoring – an ankle bracelet with an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew – under Illinois’ SAFE-T Act, the 2023 cashless bail law aimed at curbing incarceration disparities. The device logged Reed leaving his West Side home at 7:45 p.m. on November 17, in blatant violation.

This leniency has sparked bipartisan outrage, but nowhere more fiercely than from conservatives invoking the “Iryna Zarutska case” as a blueprint for failure. On August 22, 2025, Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who fled Russia’s invasion, was fatally stabbed three times in the neck on Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line by Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., 34. Surveillance video, released by Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) on September 5, shows the unprovoked assault: Zarutska, heading home from her shift at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria, sat unaware as Brown, laughing to himself, unfolded a pocket knife and struck from behind. She collapsed in a pool of blood, gasping “Help me” as passengers screamed into 911 lines: “There’s a lady on the ground with a lot of blood… everybody’s screaming!”

Brown, like Reed, was no stranger to the system. His record included armed robbery, felony larceny, breaking and entering, and multiple mental health commitments. Released pretrial under North Carolina’s reformed bail guidelines – which prioritize release for non-violent histories despite his priors – he roamed free despite warnings from his own family about his “erratic behavior.” Federal charges followed on September 9: committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, carrying a potential life sentence. FBI Director Kash Patel decried it as “a disgraceful act that should never happen in America,” vowing no leniency.

Zarutska’s story transcended tragedy into activism. The Kyiv-born artist, fluent in English and studying veterinary assistance at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, had embraced Charlotte’s vibrancy – walking neighbors’ dogs, sculpting vibrant designs, posting Instagram smiles from breweries and parks. Her obituary painted her as “radiant,” a refugee who “endured daily bombings only to find peace stolen here.” Family, arriving at the East/West Boulevard station after her phone pinged motionless, learned of her death on-site – a devastation echoed in MaGee’s loved ones’ vigil outside Stroger.

In her honor, North Carolina’s House Bill 307 – “Iryna’s Law” – passed in September, tightening pretrial release for violent offenders and mandating mental health evaluations. Tributes poured in: rapper DaBaby’s “Save Me” reenacted her rescue in a music video; a rare Celastrina iryna butterfly species was named “Iryna’s Azure” in October. Yet, as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X, “Charlotte failed Iryna – and now Chicago fails Bethany. Career criminals with endless arrests roam because of soft judges and woke policies.” Elon Musk amplified: “Incredibly cruel to push murderous thugs on the innocent public – shame on funders of this madness.”

Illinois Democrats defend SAFE-T, noting it reduced pretrial detention by 20% without spiking recidivism overall, per a 2024 state audit. Chicago Appleseed Fund’s Tio Hardiman argued, “Blaming reform ignores underfunded psych care – Reed needed treatment, not just bars.” But riders aren’t buying it. CTA complaints surged 15% post-attack, with forums like Reddit’s r/ChicagoCTA flooded: “Blue Line feels like a powder keg – when does enough become enough?”

Superintendent Larry Snelling announced Blue Line surges: K-9 patrols, body cams for all officers, and AI-monitored cameras. Yet, parallels to Zarutska persist – both victims young transplants, attackers unchecked despite red flags, transit systems exposed. In Charlotte, CATS faced lawsuits for “inadequate security”; Chicago now braces for MaGee’s family to sue under the Death on the High Seas Act analog for mass transit.

Reed’s defense, via public defender Michael Thompson, hints at insanity: “A lifetime of illness, not malice.” His December 15 hearing looms, as does broader reckoning. President Trump’s Truth Social post on Zarutska – “Democrat failures let killers walk” – now tags MaGee, urging federal probes into “revolving door” states.

From Kyiv’s ruins to Charlotte’s rails, Upland’s heartland to Chicago’s tracks, these women’s stories merge in grief and galvanization. Zarutska’s butterfly flutters as legacy; MaGee’s fight, a clarion. As Duffy warned, “No one should fear the subway.” But until reforms harden, the echoes warn: America’s commutes carry deadly risks.