CHICAGO (WBBM Newsradio) – A CTA janitor was fatally stabbed Thursday while trying to protect a coworker at the Damen Green Line station, according to his union, prompting renewed demands for stronger security for transit employees.
Julian Mobley, 41, had worked for the CTA since 2018 and leaves behind a wife and two children, ages 14 and 18 months, said Pennie McCoach, president of ATU Local 308.
The union said Mobley intervened after a rider sprayed a CTA customer service assistant with mace during a fare dispute.
Chicago police said an argument in the station’s mezzanine turned physical shortly before 3 p.m. A man stabbed Mobley in the neck and fled west. Mobley was found unresponsive in a nearby room and taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No one is in custody and Area Three detectives are investigating.
“Let’s be clear, this is not a tragedy. This is a safety failure,” McCoach said. “Our members show up every single day to serve the people of Chicago. They keep this city moving. They deserve to return home safely. That is a basic right, not a privilege.”
Audrey Veasley, a Local 308 executive board member representing rail janitors, remembered Mobley as a caring colleague.
“He was a gentleman. A gentle, kind gentleman,” Veasley said. “He was a real man.”
Mobley was the second CTA worker killed on the job this year. In June, rail switch worker Thomas Barlow was shot and killed during an attempted carjacking near the 95th Street Red Line station.
“We have been sounding the alarm about safety for years,” McCoach said. “We have asked, we have pushed, we have demanded but today, reality makes one thing painfully clear; whatever is being done is not enough.”
The union is calling for stronger enforcement, better training, an increased security presence and greater investment in worker protection.
“Not next month, not next year, but now,” McCoach said.
The CTA expressed condolences to Mobley’s family and coworkers and said it is working with public safety partners to strengthen protections for employees. The agency said it is cooperating with investigators and will share surveillance video with detectives.
“When one of us is lost, we all demand justice,” McCoach said. “And we’re asking for justice right now for Julian Mobley.”
