A transgender woman has been accused of stabbing a stranger to death after he allegedly bullied her about her gender. The Chicago attack was so vicious that the knife broke off in the man’s skull, the New York Post reported.
Kelly Day, 32, was with her partner and 7-year-old stepson when she allegedly attacked 50-year-old Larry Young. She claimed that Young mocked her for using a women’s bathroom at McDonald’s earlier that day, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Assistant State Attorney Sara Grgurovic told the judge during a Saturday hearing at Central Bond Court that before the stabbing on Chicago’s Far South Side, Young allegedly made comments about Day’s gender when he approached her in the street. This led Day to become “extremely angry” and begin arguing with Young. Her partner tried to pull her away.
Who is Kelly Day?
Day was born male but identifies as a woman. She told her wife that she did not want “bullies” to get away with making fun of her gender.
Day then allegedly followed Young across the street and started up the fight again, according to prosecutors. Surveillance footage shows Day holding a knife above Young as he lay on the ground. She then allegedly stabbed him as many as 13 times in the head, neck and upper shoulders.
Subsequently, Day called 911 and claimed that she had been injured while protecting herself from a “pervert.” She then tossed the knife and fled the scene.
Police later found the knife, and part of its blade was missing.
In a 911 call Day placed later, she changed her story and claimed that she had cut herself while cooking. She was eventually arrested at a city hospital after going in for treatment for a cut to her finger, Grgurovic said.
Following her arrest, Day told investigators that Young called her a gay slur, made a gun gesture, and threatened to have someone beat her up.
Young’s autopsy revealed that he died of multiple sharp force injuries. The tip of the metal knife was later recovered from his skull, according to prosecutors and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Day has been charged with first-degree murder. She is being held in custody pending trial due partly to the brutality of the attack, and is next due in court on Tuesday, October 13.