Prosecutors told a judge on Saturday that the encounter that led to a man being pushed to his death from a moving CTA Red Line train earlier this month began with a quarrel that escalated when the victim spat on two people.
Katlar Parchman, 19, is the second teen to be charged with Bickham’s Sept. 7 death.
Parchman, of Garfield Park, is one of four people who physically attacked Bickham and ultimately pushed the 29-year-old out of a moving Chicago Transit Authority train car, Assistant State’s Attorney Marilyn Salas told Judge Deidre Dyer during a detention hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
A 15-year-old girl and Parchman have both been charged with aggravated battery and mob action, in addition to the murder charges, according to Chicago police. They each face five felony charges. Two males remain uncharged, according to the court’s remarks.
The fatal incident began as a verbal altercation that ensued between Bickham and the group of four people, according to prosecutors. Bickham appeared intoxicated and was touching passengers’ belongings, they said.
During the verbal fight, Bickham spat on Parchman and another person, which prompted the group to start physically assaulting him, Salas said. Parchman, the 15-year-old and the two uncharged males repeatedly hit and punched Bickham.
Captured on surveillance cameras aboard the train and by other passengers in the train car, Bickham was forced to the rear of the train by the group. Two people forced Bickham out the sliding emergency exit near 69th Street in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood around 2:30 p.m. Sept. 7. He landed on the third rail and was ultimately struck by an oncoming southbound train, according to prosecutors.
He was pronounced dead on scene.
The judge approved the prosecutor’s request to hold Parchman pending trial and issued an order preserving video taken aboard the train.
Bickham’s family had said the 29-year-old had been on his way home from work at Amazon when he was forcefully pushed from a train and killed. His father, Christopher Bickham Sr said his son was beloved by his three siblings and close to his mother. He loved to see people laugh, spend time with his girlfriend, and work hard at his job, just like he had since he was 15 years old, he said.
Asked about the new arrest a day before Saturday’s hearing, Bickham Sr. said he hopes his son’s attackers “get right with God.”
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“They took something precious from me and my family and from the world, too,” he said. ” I can’t hear his voice. I can’t hear him. I can’t hear my son be mad at me… I can’t hear us make up… I can’t hear him say, ‘Dad, you know I love you, you’re the best dad ever.’”
Parchman is a certified nursing assistant, registered with the Illinois Department of Public Health, who previously worked in home health care services. She has no prior criminal history. Parchman will return for a court hearing on Tuesday.
Tribune reporter Jake Sheridan contributed to this report.