A Cook County judge has allowed a man with a long criminal history to await trial from home without so much as an ankle monitor, rejecting prosecutors’ efforts to keep him detained after he allegedly caused the death of a 9-year-old autistic boy at a West Loop CTA station.
Prosecutors say the deadly chain of events was set in motion when the boy’s mother’s boyfriend stole cash from one of the accused man’s friends.
Michael Korosa, 52, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the August 10 altercation at the Clinton Green Line station that led to the death days later of Elijah Flores.
Prosecutors said Elijah became caught in the chaos after his mother’s boyfriend grabbed a wad of cash from Korosa’s companion as their train pulled into the station around 11:35 a.m. The boyfriend, holding Elijah by the hand, bolted from the platform with Korosa and his friend chasing close behind, prosecutors said in a detention filing.
Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators allegedly shows Korosa pursuing the man and boy while wearing a medical boot and swinging a cane. At the top of a stairwell, prosecutors allege, the boyfriend hoisted Elijah onto his shoulder and raced down the steps. Korosa allegedly struck the man with his cane, causing the man to fall down the stairs and Elijah’s head to strike the steps as the man landed on top of him.
As Elijah lay gravely injured, Korosa and his friend picked up the stolen money and left as another CTA customer recorded the incident from the platform, prosecutors said. The boyfriend then carried Elijah to a train and told a witness not to call 911, insisting the child was fine.
But Elijah’s condition worsened and another passenger on the train called 911. Paramedics rushed the boy to Lurie Children’s Hospital, where he died six days later from a head injury.
Prosecutors said Korosa admitted to chasing the man and swinging his cane. Both the boyfriend and a witness identified him in photo lineups. Korosa’s criminal record spans nearly 30 years and includes at least a dozen felony convictions, officials said, including robbery, burglary, theft, drug possession, escape, and aggravated battery.
Despite that background and prosecutors’ allegations, Judge Susana Ortiz denied the state’s detention petition and sent Korosa home.
This story is sourced from a detention proffer provided by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and Cook County court records.
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