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.
”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.
MaGee was riding a CTA Blue Line train Nov. 17 when Marcus Reed, 50 — who has previously been arrested 72 times — suddenly doused her with gasoline and used a lighter to set her ablaze, authorities said.
“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.
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.
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 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 would never have happened if this thug had been behind bars. Yet Chicago lets repeat offenders roam the streets,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy raged on social media Sunday.
Reed now faces federal terrorism charges connected to the senseless attack against MaGee.
“It sounds like he’s dealing with serious mental-health issues, not that that’s an excuse,” Ethan said.
“It’s tragic and disturbing. I remember my first thoughts were, ‘You hear about a lot of crimes, but that just seems so extremely violent.’ “
Surveillance footage showed a man matching Reed’s description creep up behind MaGee around 9:30 p.m. and douse her with liquid from a bottle. MaGee tried to flee, but the man chased her down and ignited the fuel.
MaGee staggered off the train at the next stop but collapsed on the platform. The woman sustained severe burns to her face and body and remains in critical condition, CBS 6 reported Monday.
