A judge sentenced a man to 13 years in prison on Tuesday for viciously beating a CTA passenger with a hammer during a robbery on a Blue Line platform last year, bringing the case to a close. The rider suffered skull fractures and brain bleeding.
Travis Andrews, 30, pled guilty to armed robbery during a hearing before Judge Jennifer Coleman. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to remove attempted murder and several other charges. Under state legislation, his sentence will be reduced by half if he behaves properly.
On August 20, 2024, at about 3:49 p.m., an attack occurred on the Western Blue Line platform at 430 South Western Avenue. According to authorities, Andrews grabbed the victim’s phone from his palm while he was waiting on the platform. A fight ensued.
According to investigators, the moment is when co-defendant Shakena Agee, 27, joined the attack, seizing the victim’s phone while Andrews repeatedly hit the guy in the back of the head with a hammer. The next day, Chicago police released surveillance photographs, requesting the public’s assistance in identifying the couple.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim sustained multiple skull fractures, a brain hemorrhage, and a fractured cheekbone.
Agee is continuing to fight the charges. She is still on electronic monitoring and is set to appear in court on Friday.
According to court and CPD records, Andrews had already been charged with murdering a 54-year-old woman in a West Side shooting in December 2021. In September 2023, less than a year before the hammer attack, prosecutors dismissed the case.