Update 7:13PM – Fajour Hodges is now in police custody, according to CPD.
A Cook County Judge has signed an arrest warrant for a 19-year-old Wicker Park man in connection with the murder of Mamadou Balde, a former Marine who died last week after two men pushed him between the cars of a Red Line train in the Loop.
The warrant, signed by Judge Mary Margaret Brosnahan, calls for the arrest of Fajour Hodges of the 1200 block of North Artesian, according to court records. A complaint from prosecutors accuses Hodges of first-degree murder.
Last Saturday, prosecutors charged 18-year-old North Center resident Ryan Munn with murder in the case.
Munn and Hodges are well-known to police who patrol the area near the Magnificent Mile. Last September, the two men were allegedly part of a retail shoplifting mob that stole more than $2,000 worth of merchandise from a Gold Coast 7-Eleven store. The crime was captured on video.
Munn was never charged in the case, but prosecutors charged Hodges with felony retail theft and felony theft. That case remains unresolved.
During Munn’s bail hearing last weekend, an assistant state’s attorney said CTA surveillance video showed Balde smiling and jokingly raising his fists at a man on the Jackson platform around 5:13 p.m. on Apr. 8.
The other man — whom police and prosecutors believe is Hodges — punched Balde before Munn stepped in and pushed the ex-Marine between two cars of a southbound Red Line train, according to the state’s allegations. The train dragged Balde to his death.
CWBChicago reported last week that the two suspects were identified by name after officers in the 18th District recognized them from CTA surveillance images that the department distributed internally.
Hodges was arrested five times in 2019, including three times near the Magnificent Mile. Once for the 7-Eleven shoplifting, once for possessing a stolen Divvy bike, and once for trespassing at a condo building, according to court records.
