For nearly a year, Isaac Anderson worked as a security guard at some of the city’s biggest annual events. That career, and whatever Anderson hoped to achieve with the rest of his life, derailed on an October morning in 2022 when he murdered a man aboard a Red Line train, a killing prosecutors said was sparked by Anderson’s desire to have the victim’s Pepsi.
Jurors needed just three hours in June to find Anderson, 30, guilty of the slaying. On Thursday, Judge Angela Munari-Petrone handed down his sentences: 55 years for murder plus a consecutive five years for robbery. By law, he will have to serve all of the murder term plus half of the robbery sentence before being eligible for release.
Prosecutors said CTA surveillance footage captured everything, starting when Anderson used his own Ventra card to enter the State-Lake station on the morning of the shooting.
He boarded a southbound train, and 60-year-old Oral Woods boarded the same car a few minutes later. After about 30 to 40 minutes, Anderson got up from his seat and sat down next to Woods. They talked for a few minutes before Anderson grabbed Woods’ backpack and looked inside, prosecutors said.
Video showed Anderson taking a Pepsi from the backpack and tossing the bag onto the seat next to Woods. Prosecutors said Anderson returned to his original seat, sipped the Pepsi, then went back and threw the rest of the soda on Woods. When Woods stood up, unarmed and with both hands visible, Anderson pulled a revolver from his jacket pocket and shot him five times, prosecutors said. Anderson then fled from the 87th Street station.
Chicago police officers, working from an initial description of the shooter, found Anderson a short time later as he rode a CTA bus. They interviewed him, collected his information and searched him for weapons, but he did not have a gun, and police let him go. Days later, after investigators determined he was responsible for the shooting, officers caught up with him again outside the 87th Street station, officials said.
Prosecutors said investigators found records showing Anderson bought three guns, including a revolver, in November 2021. Police also found a Facebook photo of Anderson posing with a revolver, as well as messages in which he discussed shooting someone, according to court records.
Anderson had no criminal history before the shooting. His defense attorney said during Anderson’s initial court appearance that he had been working as a security guard for almost a year, including at major events such as Lollapalooza.
“No one should fear for their safety while using public transit. This conviction holds the defendant accountable for a senseless act of gun violence that took the life of an innocent CTA passenger,” Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke said after the jury returned its verdict. “I commend prosecutors Rebecca Wiggers and Matthew Larkin, along with the Chicago Police Department and Chicago Transit Authority, for their work on the investigation to ensure justice for Mr. Woods and his loved ones.”
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