A man and his girlfriend face attempted murder charges after a dispute over a seat on a crowded CTA bus escalated into a shooting that left two passengers wounded — including a woman who had no involvement in the argument, prosecutors said.
Tyrese Jones, 19, and his girlfriend, Destiny Jones, 18, boarded a crowded 63rd Street bus at Prairie Avenue around 4:30 p.m. on September 30 without paying the fare and took seats toward the back, according to prosecutors. That’s when a 57-year-old man approached Tyrese and asked him to move over so he could sit down. Tyrese refused, and both Joneses began arguing with the man, prosecutors alleged, with Destiny standing over the passenger and screaming in his face.
When the man shoved her, both Joneses began punching him as another passenger tried to intervene, prosecutors said. Tyrese then reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun, and fired one shot, according to the allegations. The bullet struck the 57-year-old man in the stomach, passed through his body, and hit a 65-year-old woman seated nearby in the arm, prosecutors said. The woman had not been involved in the confrontation.
CTA surveillance footage captured the chaos that followed. Although the crowded bus obscured the gun from view, passengers visibly panicked at the sound of the gunshot. The male victim stumbled off the bus and collapsed in the grass outside, while the woman could be seen jumping as the bullet struck her arm. Everyone else ran from the bus, including the Joneses, prosecutors said.
Responding officers encountered an unidentified witness who handed them a 9mm shell casing recovered from inside the bus. The woman then left without providing her contact information.
Detectives used facial recognition software to analyze surveillance images of the suspects and obtained a tentative identification of Tyrese, prosecutors said. Investigators subsequently released images of two people in a public appeal for help identifying them. The bulletin generated multiple tips about the suspects, including information from Destiny’s former boyfriend, an employee at a blood bank the couple frequented, and others, prosecutors said. Investigators also learned that Destiny allegedly called her father after the shooting and told him Tyrese had shot someone, according to prosecutors.
Judge James Murphy III ordered both defendants detained on charges of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery by discharging a firearm, and aggravated battery of a transit passenger.
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