🔥 Horror on the Blue Line: Quiet Indiana Woman Set on Fire in Chicago — Community Shattered, Shocking Criminal Past Revealed
In quiet towns like Upland, Indiana, tragedies of this scale feel unthinkable — almost unreal. Yet as news spread of a young woman brutally set on fire aboard a Chicago train, a wave of disbelief rippled from the city to her small hometown. What unfolded on that railcar was not just another crime story… it was a nightmare no one could have imagined.
Before diving into the harrowing details, it helps to understand the gentle life this victim came from — a life now forever divided into “before” and “after.”
🔷 A Small-Town Woman, Loved and Admired
UPLAND, Ind. – The 26-year-old woman set on fire by a lunatic with a lengthy rap sheet on a Chicago train is “very soft-spoken, very gentle’’ and an “incredibly smart’’ former honors student, a friend said Monday.
Victim Bethany MaGee’s “wonderful” church-going family is now reeling as she fights for life, covered in gruesome burns, pals and neighbors said.
The contrast between her peaceful upbringing and the violence that engulfed her is striking. Friends describe a woman who embodied kindness, intelligence, and faith — someone who never sought the spotlight, yet is now at the center of a heartbreaking national headline.
🔷 Prayers, Shock, and a Community Holding Its Breath
”We just know they are going through a hard time, so we are praying for them,” said a local who lives near the family in their tiny tight-knit Christian community.
Her neighbors speak with the unmistakable tone of people who still cannot believe this happened to “one of their own.”
🔷 The Blue Line Attack — A Sudden, Unprovoked Nightmare
MaGee was riding a CTA Blue Line train Nov. 17 when Lawrence Reed, 50 — who has previously been arrested 72 times — suddenly doused her with gasoline and used a lighter to set her ablaze, authorities said.
The randomness of the attack only deepens the horror. One moment she was simply commuting; the next, her world was consumed by fire. And the man accused of doing it had a criminal history that reads like a warning ignored too many times.
🔷 “Incredibly Smart, Very Gentle” — Friends Remember the Real Bethany
“She [is] incredibly smart. Very soft spoken, very gentle. Very smart,” a former high-school classmate told The Post.
The young man, who goes by Ethan, said MaGee was an avid reader who took honors classes at their high school in Indiana.
These details underscore what was stolen from her — a thoughtful life shaped by learning, compassion, and quiet strength.
🔷 A Town of 4,000 Now Living a Shared Wound
MaGee hails from Upland, an enclave of fewer than 4,000 people home to Taylor University.
She was raised by a doting family, the neighbor said.
“They’re a wonderful family. …About as loving as you can be,” the resident said, stressing the parents’ desire for privacy as they process the tragedy.
A man who identified himself to The Post as the victim’s brother at a family home Monday said, “Thanks for stopping by but no comments at this time.”
Their silence speaks volumes — grief too deep for words.
🔷 The Attacker’s Criminal Past — A System That Failed to Protect?
Reed has 22 prior arrests since 2016 alone and 53 criminal cases in Cook County dating back to 1993 — nine of them felonies for which he pleaded guilty, officials said.
But the shock isn’t only in the number of offenses… it’s in what happened after those offenses.
🔷 The Controversial Release Before the Attack
But Cook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez freed Reed on a felony aggravated battery charge for slapping a social worker so hard that she was knocked out during an Aug. 19 assault inside the psychiatric ward of the MacNeal Hospital, court records show.
A judge let Reed walk free with an ankle monitor despite the prosecution’s request to keep him behind bars.
This decision now sits at the heart of a growing firestorm: How did a man with such a violent past, and such a recent attack on a hospital employee, end up free — and able to inflict unimaginable suffering on an innocent commuter?
🔷 A Community United, A Nation Asking Questions
The story continues developing, and with every new update, emotions tighten around the same themes:
- Anger at a system that may have failed
- Fear about random violence in public spaces
- Hope for MaGee’s survival
- Support for a devastated family seeking privacy and prayer
