A Humboldt Park man was held without bail Friday on charges he attacked a former Marine who was shoved between Red Line train cars and dragged to his death earlier this month.
Fajour Hodges, 19, of the 1200 block of North Artesian Avenue, was arrested on a murder warrant Thursday and charged with first-degree murder for the April 6 death of Mamadou Balde, according to Chicago police.
– Original Credit: Chicago police
Prosecutors have already charged Ryan Munn in Balde‘s death, a crime that shocked the city trying to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak and stay-at-home order. The attack was captured on CTA surveillance cameras, and three witnesses identified Munn and Hodges as the assailants, prosecutors have said.
Prosecutors said Near North District police officers recognized Munn and Hodges from prior contact they’d had with both. Police had been seeking Hodges since shortly after the attack, but the arrest warrant was issued this week after he missed a hearing at the Skokie courthouse on an unrelated retail theft case, according to records.
In court Friday, prosecutors said Hodges was standing on the platform with Munn when Balde, who was intoxicated, struck up a conversation with him. During the brief exchange, Balde appeared to be smiling and joking with Hodges, despite momentarily raising his fists to his chin “as if he was jokingly putting up his dukes,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
As Balde was smiling, Hodges allegedly punched Balde in the face, knocking him backward toward a stopped train. Prosecutors said Munn joined in, throwing punches and shoving Balde until he fell between the cars of the slow-moving train.
Balde struggled to free himself as he was dragged along the platform and into a tunnel, where his head and upper body violently struck a metal partition, according to authorities. Following his arrest last Friday, Munn admitted taking a swing at Balde out of loyalty to his friend, but said he was only trying to push the victim to the ground.
Hodges’ attorney William Wolf said in court Friday that first-degree murder was an inappropriate charge, since there was no indication of “an intention or even a knowledge that they were taking an action that was going to kill him.”
Hodges has asthma, Wolf said, indicating that he had “medical concerns” about keeping him at the jail during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Judge Arthur Wesley Willis ordered Hodges held without bail, saying it seemed Hodges initiated the contact when he started punching the victim. Munn was also held without bail over the weekend.