A fatal stabbing in Chicago has led to charges against Kelly Day, 32, after prosecutors alleged she attacked 50-year-old Larry Young following a dispute in which comments about her gender reportedly triggered an argument.
According to reporting by the Chicago Tribune, Day was with her partner and her 7-year-old stepson on October 7 when she encountered Young on Chicago’s Far South Side. Prosecutors allege that the confrontation followed an earlier incident at a McDonald’s restaurant, where Day had reportedly been mocked by a separate group of people for using the women’s bathroom.
Assistant State’s Attorney Sara Grgurovic told a judge during a Saturday hearing at Central Bond Court that Young was not part of the earlier group. However, prosecutors said Young made comments about Day’s gender when he approached her on the street, prompting an argument.
Day reportedly became extremely angry, while her partner attempted to pull her away. According to prosecutors, Young pushed Day before walking away toward a nearby gas station across the street.
Prosecutors allege that Day then told her partner she did not want to let “bullies” get away with making fun of her gender. She subsequently followed Young across the street, where the confrontation resumed.
Surveillance footage reportedly shows Day standing over Young while holding a knife as he lay on the ground. Prosecutors allege that she stabbed him 13 times in the head, neck and upper shoulders.
After the attack, Day called 911 and initially reported that she had been injured while defending herself from a “pervert,” prosecutors said. She allegedly discarded the knife and left the scene. Police later recovered the weapon, which was missing part of its blade.
In a subsequent emergency call, Day reportedly gave a different explanation for her injury, claiming she had cut herself while cooking. Authorities arrested her at a Chicago hospital, where she had sought treatment for a cut to her finger.
Following her arrest, Day told investigators that Young had used an anti-gay slur against her, made a gun gesture and threatened to have someone beat her up, according to reports. Those statements form part of her account of the confrontation, while prosecutors have outlined a different sequence of events based on witness information and surveillance footage.
An autopsy determined that Young died from multiple sharp-force injuries, according to prosecutors and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Prosecutors also said the missing tip of the metal knife was later recovered from his skull.
The case centres on the fatal encounter between Day and Young, with prosecutors alleging that a street argument escalated into a deadly stabbing. The earlier reported incident at McDonald’s provides context for the events leading up to the confrontation, but Young was not identified as one of the people involved in that earlier dispute.
