Woman suffers 60pc burns in unprovoked arson attack in Chicago

A 26-year-old woman endured unimaginable agony on a Chicago Blue Line train last Monday night when a stranger doused her with gasoline and set her ablaze, leaving her with severe burns over 60 percent of her body in an attack that unfolded in front of horrified but unmoving passengers.

The nightmare began around 9.30pm last Monday (Nov 17) near the Clark/Lake station as Bethany MaGee, a Purdue University graduate and devoted animal lover from Indiana, sat in the carriage. 

Lawrence Reed, a 50-year-old career criminal on parole for assault, approached her, repeatedly yelling slurs before splashing gasoline from a glass bottle over her head and igniting it. 

MaGee, engulfed in flames, desperately rolled on the floor to extinguish the fire but received no help from nearby riders until the train pulled into the station, where bystanders finally rushed to her aid on the platform. 

She was airlifted to a burn unit in critical condition.

Surveillance footage captured Reed buying the gasoline at a nearby station beforehand and watching impassively as MaGee writhed in agony. 

With 72 prior arrests and a history of mental illness, Reed faces terrorism charges after pleading guilty in court on Wednesday; if convicted, he could spend life in prison.

MaGee, a faithful churchgoer, faces at least three months of grueling treatment, with her left arm and hand suffering the worst damage after recent surgery.

The shocking incident has fueled national outrage over urban violence, with the Trump administration seizing on Reed's parole status to renew calls for deploying National Guard troops to Chicago. 

White House spokesman Abigail Jackson echoed the president's long-standing view that the city's crime has spiraled out of control.