A 15-year-old girl was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree murder after Chicago police say she was one of three people who shoved 29-year-old Kyle Bickham off a moving CTA Red Line train, killing him.
Bickham was pushed during an altercation aboard the train the afternoon of Sept. 7, according to the Chicago Police Department. He fell onto the third rail and was struck by an oncoming train, police told WLS.
Investigators have not released details on what sparked the confrontation. Police are still searching for two other people involved in the shoving.
The girl, whose name has not been released because of her age, had been reported as a missing person from Chicago’s south suburbs. She was charged with first-degree murder, mob action, murder by other forcible felony, and aggravated battery to a transit employee, according to police and CBS Chicago. A judge ordered her held in custody at a court hearing Saturday.
Bickham was on his way home from an overnight shift at an Amazon warehouse when he was killed, his family said. He had recently moved into a new apartment and was working long hours and enduring a lengthy commute to get ahead.
“He was just trying to make an honest day’s living, and this is what happened,” his mother, Latanya Bickham, said.
His father, Christopher Bickham Sr., described the loss as devastating. “It’s the most hurtful thing that has ever happened,” he told WLS. He said his son was the youngest of four siblings and doted on his family. “He loved writing poetry. He loved us. He loved both of his nieces, his brothers, his sister; he just was [an] all-around caring guy,” Bickham Sr. said.
Bickham’s grandmother, Bertha Ford, called those responsible for his death “evil.”
“If you’re that evil, to open a door and throw somebody, a live person out, what’s wrong with you? This guy was so kind,” Ford told WLS.
She said Bickham regularly called just to tell her he loved her. “He always reaches out to me to say, ‘Granny? You know God got you. And I love you so much.'”
A GoFundMe set up to cover funeral costs has raised $11,511 toward its $14,000 goal.
