25 years for 'guilty but mentally ill' man who murdered sleeping homeless man in Grant Park; charges dropped in 3 similar attacks

CHICAGO — A person accused of stabbing 4 homeless individuals as they slept on CTA trains and in Grant Park through the summer season of 2020, killing one, has been discovered responsible of homicide however mentally unwell, courtroom information present.

Choose William Gamboney introduced his findings and handed Bryant McCalip a 25-year sentence final Tuesday, someday after one other man allegedly murdered 4 reportedly homeless individuals as they slept on a Blue Line practice.

McCalip, 32, was discovered responsible of murdering Aaron Curry, 58, close to the Grant Park skate park on July 9, 2020. Chicago police responded to the 1100 block of South Michigan round 9 a.m. that morning after a girl seen Curry had been mendacity in the identical spot for greater than a day. Officers found Curry useless with a number of stab wounds to his physique and neck.

Prosecutors mentioned police discovered a knife blade embedded in Curry’s shoulder and the knife’s damaged deal with mendacity in some grass close by. These objects have been despatched to against the law lab for DNA evaluation. Not like three different assaults wherein the victims survived, Curry’s homicide was not caught on video, prosecutors mentioned.

Prosecutors final week dropped all expenses associated to the opposite three assaults.

McCalip had been charged with gravely wounding a 53-year-old homeless man because the sufferer slept in virtually the precise spot the place Curry’s physique had been discovered about two weeks earlier. He was additionally charged with stalking and stabbing two extra homeless males as they slept aboard Crimson Line trains on the South Aspect on July 15 and August 18, 2020. These victims additionally survived the assaults.

Prosecutors in August charged McCalip with gravely wounding a 53-year-old homeless man because the sufferer slept in virtually the precise spot the place Curry’s physique was discovered about two weeks earlier. He was additionally charged with stalking and stabbing two extra homeless males as they slept aboard Crimson Line trains on the South Aspect on July 15 and August 18. These victims additionally survived the assaults.

Prosecutors mentioned movies confirmed McCalip approaching the three surviving victims as they slept, observing them, then stabbing them repeatedly of their necks with a knife that he held in his left hand.

Members of the family turned McCalip in after recognizing him in CTA surveillance pictures that police launched in mid-August.

McCalip “stalked these individuals like they have been prey and ended up stabbing them and watched as they suffered,” Choose John Lyke mentioned upon listening to prosecutors publicly current their allegations for the primary time in August 2020.

“I’ve been across the regulation for a really very long time,” the choose continued. “What I simply heard, if that is true, that is the epitome of evil…[McCalip] presents an actual and current menace to this neighborhood and any human being, any residing factor, that he is available in contact with.”