‘It never really occurred to us that this would happen’
About 50 people gathered at an Evanston church Tuesday for a memorial service honoring four people who were shot and killed as they slept on a Blue Line train earlier this month, as well as numerous other people experiencing homelessness who had died in the preceding year.
The deaths of Margaret Miller Johnson, Sean Jones, Adrian Collins and Simeon Bihesi have renewed scrutiny around safety and security on the CTA and stunned those who work with Chicago-area homeless people. Authorities arrested and charged 30-year-old Rhianni Davis with murder shortly after the shootings. No potential motive has yet emerged in the case and Davis was ordered detained pending trial.
Betty Bogg, CEO of Connections for the Homeless, said at a news conference at Lake Street Church before the service that while people without a place to live are prone to premature deaths, “it never really occurred to us that this would happen.”
Connections had worked with Miller Johnson and her husband starting in 2018, Bogg said. They’d been living out of their truck at the time and she remembered how excited they’d been when they were placed in the organization’s hotel shelter program. The organization had last heard that Miller Johnson had been living in Des Plaines, but hadn’t been in touch with her since January.
It wasn’t clear how Miller Johnson wound up sleeping on the train on Labor Day morning.
The organization’s board president, Pastor Monté Dillard, said the memorial was an opportunity to grieve and condemn “this act of brutality directed at some of our society’s most vulnerable members.”
He also addressed loved ones of people being honored at the service.
“To each of the families who you will hear from today, we want you to know that we do not only see your grief, but we carry it,” he said.
A table holding flowers, a picture of Miller Johnson and other deceased people who had received services from the organization stood behind Dillard. The organization has hosted memorials for its deceased clients since 2019, according to Bogg.
“There’s this perception that unhoused people are just by themselves and completely without any connection, and that’s often not the case,” she said.
Miller Johnson’s sisters attended the news conference and memorial but declined to speak. Media members were asked to leave the service after the recognition of Miller Johnson and the other people who died on the Blue Line.
Bogg remembered Miller Johnson as a caring, intelligent woman who looked after her husband. She defied many stereotypes about homeless people, Bogg added, with a college degree and a husband.
She added that the shootings have rattled other homeless people who receive services from Connections and for whom the CTA can be a “relatively safe” option to get some rest.
“It’s terrifying to think that the one place that you thought maybe you’d be OK, you’re definitely not OK,” Bogg said. “Being killed in this way is not something that people have had in the forefronts of their mind.”
Davis’ next court appearance is set for Friday, records show.
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