3 charged in death of man electrocuted on CTA rail

Three men have been charged with the murder of a 43-year-old man who was beaten early Sunday and electrocuted by a CTA third rail in the South Loop.
Clint Johnson, 29, Martell Darnell Johnson, 21, and Maurice Evans, 23, all from the 2300 block of West Warren Boulevard, were charged with first-degree murder on Monday, according to police News Affairs. Police responded to the Roosevelt Red Line station at 2:15 a.m. Sunday for a battery that involved three male offenders and a victim in his 40s, according to police News Affairs Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti.

Ursitti said the circumstances as to how the victim wound up on the CTA tracks were still under investigation Monday afternoon.

The victim, identified as Daniel McKenzie, came into contact with the third rail in the 1100 block of South State Street, at the Red Line station, and the cause of his death was electrocution, according to a spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

An autopsy conducted Monday determined his death was a homicide, the medical examiner's office said.

CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski said power at the Red Line's Roosevelt Station was shut off for 24 minutes due to police activity about 2:10 a.m. Sunday.

Service was only delayed about 8 minutes because the CTA was already planning to run on the top rails because of construction, Hosinski said.

Hosinski declined to comment on the incident.

The three charged men will appear for a bond hearing in Violence Court (Br. 66) at noon Tuesday.