CHICAGO — A Libertyville man has been given a six-year prison sentence for stabbing a 69-year-old man aboard a CTA bus in the South Loop. Stanislav Zhuravel, 33, was on pretrial release for three misdemeanor cases at the time of the January 15, 2024, attack.
Zhuravel pleaded guilty to aggravated battery of a victim older than 60 in exchange for the sentence from Judge Timothy Joyce. Prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge and a handful of other felonies in their agreement with Zhuravel.
Prosecutors said Zhuravel stabbed the victim, whom he did not know, four times during an argument on a bus in the 1700 block of South State. The victim suffered a lacerated forehead, three puncture wounds on his back and side, and a punctured lung in the mid-morning attack.
After stabbing the victim, Zhuravel got off the bus, discarded the knife on the grounds of the nearby Central (1st) Police District station, and then returned to the bus to get his backpack, according to prosecutors. He then fled the scene.
Chicago police detectives identified Zhuravel through the Ventra card he used to pay his fare and the bus surveillance video.
Court records show Zhuravel was on pretrial release for two battery cases and a criminal damage to property charge. He pleaded guilty to one of the battery charges in June and received a 180-day sentence, which he served out while awaiting trial in the stabbing case. Prosecutors dropped the other two matters.
According to Illinois Department of Corrections records, he’s expected to be released in June 2029 after serving 85% of his sentence.
