A 20-year-old man is the most recent individual charged in a disturbing kidnapping and robbery incident involving the Red Line. Prosecutors claim this incident turned an average train journey for a DePaul University student into a terrifying ordeal filled with threats and extortion.
Keyonte Love was charged this week with aggravated kidnapping for ransom and aggravated robbery, as he allegedly collaborated with 18-year-old Ricky Willis to seize an 18-year-old DePaul freshman on a southbound Red Line train the previous month.
The prosecution states that the harassment started around 2 a.m. on September 6, when Love and Willis got onto the train at the Argyle stop. Several minutes later, the DePaul student boarded at Fullerton, which is near the university’s Lincoln Park campus. Soon thereafter, the two men reportedly trapped him, issued death threats, and demanded money.
According to prosecutors, Love and Willis took the student’s phone and attempted to transfer funds to themselves. However, the transaction did not go through as the bank flagged it for fraud due to the high amount they were trying to access. Refusing to give up, they allegedly began reaching out to the victim’s family and friends for ransom payments.
Using the student’s phone, they first dialed his sister, warning she would “never see him again” unless she sent money. In fear, she managed to transfer $700 through Zelle to the phone number belonging to Willis, according to allegations. Next, they got in touch with the victim’s roommate, who sent an additional $100 via Cash App, allegedly to an account named “Ricky Willis.”
However, when they contacted the victim’s mother, their scheme started to unravel since she spoke little English and was unfamiliar with electronic payment applications.
As the train approached 63rd Street, Love and Willis allegedly told the victim he would “end up dead in a ditch” if he attempted to flee. They forced him off the train, took him into an alley, and captured images of his identification documents, prosecutors indicated. They also provided him with a phone number and insisted he make weekly electronic payments or face dire consequences.
Willis reportedly threatened, “I will kill you. This is life or death. I have a switch.” The term “switch” refers to an illegal modification that can turn a handgun into an automatic weapon.
The student did not make any further payments, although he continued to receive calls from his captors over the following days. Chicago police released surveillance footage of the suspects shortly thereafter, which led a housing worker to identify both Willis and Love as residents of a nearby property.
Upon being found by detectives, Willis confessed to being the person in the surveillance footage and admitted to his misjudgments, according to prosecutors. He was charged earlier in the month and is currently being held by order of Judge John Hock.
Recently, Love turned himself in to the authorities and appeared before Judge Luciano Panici, who issued an order for him to be held until trial.
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