A Chicago transgender woman faces first-degree murder charges after allegedly stabbing a man 13 times and leaving a broken knife tip in his skull following comments about her gender.
Kelly Day, 32, who was born male but identifies as a woman, is accused of killing Larry Young, 50, outside a gas station on Chicago’s Far South Side last Wednesday. The New York Post reported the charging details drawn from prosecutors’ account in court.
Surveillance footage described by prosecutors shows Day holding a knife above Young as he lay on the ground. Day then allegedly stabbed him 13 times in the head, neck, and upper shoulders.
Young died of multiple sharp force injuries. The Cook County medical examiner’s office recovered the tip of a metal knife from his skull. Police later found the discarded knife with part of the blade missing.
Day is charged with first-degree murder and is being held in custody pending trial. Prosecutors cited the severity of the attack in keeping Day locked up. Day is next due in court on Tuesday.
Earlier that same Wednesday, a separate group of strangers allegedly mocked Day for using the women’s bathroom at a McDonald’s. Young was not part of that group, Assistant State Attorney Sara Grgurovic told a judge at a Saturday hearing in Central Bond Court, the court that handles bond decisions.
Later, Young approached Day in the street and made comments about Day’s gender. Day became “extremely angry” and argued with him, Grgurovic said. Day’s partner tried to pull Day away. Young then reportedly pushed Day and walked toward the gas station across the street.
Prosecutors said Day told a wife there would be no free pass for the insults.
"[She] didn’t want “bullies” to get away with making fun of her gender."
Day followed Young across the street and restarted the fight. That is when the stabbing happened, according to the state’s account and the surveillance description presented in court.
Day’s 7-year-old stepson was present during the confrontation.
After the attack, Day called 911 and claimed injury while protecting against a “pervert.” Day tossed the knife and fled the scene.
In a later 911 call, the story changed. Day claimed the finger cut came while cooking. Day went to a city hospital for treatment on that cut finger. Police arrested Day there.
After the arrest, Day gave investigators another version. Day claimed Young used a gay slur, made a gun gesture, and threatened to have someone beat Day up. Prosecutors presented those shifting accounts alongside the surveillance description and the autopsy findings.
Grgurovic laid out the sequence for the judge on Saturday: the earlier bathroom mockery by other people, Young’s later gender comments, the failed attempt by Day’s partner to break it up, the follow-across-the-street decision, and the 13 stab wounds to the head, neck, and shoulders.
The medical examiner’s findings left little ambiguity about the cause of death. Multiple sharp force injuries killed Young. A metal knife tip remained in his skull. The weapon recovered by police was missing part of its blade.
Day remains in custody on the first-degree murder charge. The next court date is Tuesday. No trial verdict has been reached. The state’s filing treats the killing as a homicide case, not a settled claim of lawful self-defense.
A 50-year-old man is dead with a knife tip in his skull over gender comments on a Chicago street. Grievance is not a license to stab, and the charge sheet is where that excuse meets the facts.
