As kids, Teanna Harris spent hours in her mother’s West Side living room, dancing with her big brother Malcolm McFadden. She recalled a memory of them learning the choreography to “Try Again” by the award-winning Princess of R&B Aaliyah.
“My brother was a cheerful soul. He loves smelling good, dancing and just truly enjoying life,” Harris told The TRiiBE. “He was always protective of his siblings, making sure we felt safe and cared for. No one could ever replace the person he was. His presence was one of a kind.”
On July 20, 2024, McFadden, 35, accidentally fell onto the electrified third rail at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)’s Green Line L Station on Cicero and Lake Street in the Austin neighborhood. He was pronounced dead at the L station, according to a police report obtained by The TRiiBE.
McFadden’s body was taken to the Cook County Medical Examiner (ME)’s Office on July 21, 2024. The next day, the ME left a voicemail with his younger brother. After not hearing from him, his concerned mother, Ayanna McFadden, filed a missing persons report with the 15th District Police station in Austin on Aug. 15, 2024. Three hours after filing a report, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) called her with the news that her son had passed away. The brother returned the ME’s call. The next day, McFadden’s mother learned his body was in the county morgue.
McFadden’s family is now seeking justice in court. On June 26, McFadden’s mother filed a complaint with the Cook County Circuit Court, alleging CTA of willful and wanton misconduct and wrongful death. The suit states that from the time her son entered the L station to the moment he was electrocuted, “the CTA employee assigned to the station was not present at the platform, at any monitoring post or the control booth.”
According to the lawsuit, as a result of his fall from the L platform onto the tracks, McFadden was “in a disoriented and impaired state and unable to remove himself from the tracks.” He remained in “continuous contact with the third rail, and continuously electrocuted for more than eight minutes. During the eight-minute period, the power was never removed from the third rail,” the lawsuit states.
The first hearing on the matter occurred this week. The next court hearing is set for Sept. 22. McFadden’s mother is being represented by Dinizulu Law Group attorney Roosevelt Allen, who filed the lawsuit on her behalf.
“We are seeking some justice for Malcolm. He didn’t have to die in the fashion that he died in if, in fact, the attendant and as well as the CTA individuals who monitor these tracks, would have responded in a timely manner,” Allen told The TRiiBE.
The suit also states: “The CTA, having actual and/or constructive knowledge that Malcolm McFadden had fallen onto the train tracks and remained in a position of visible and grave danger for an extended period of time, had the ability to shut off power to the electrified third rail and/or summon emergency responders in a timely manner, but failed to do so.”
McFadden’s mother has stood alongside other Chicago families for months advocating for a “compassionate system” of death notification and identification within the Medical Examiner’s Office.
“Even aside from [CTA] just responding to when he actually fell on the tracks, but even after the fact, there was more insult added, because the family wasn’t even notified [by the medical examiner] in a prompt fashion, that Malcolm had been deceased for some time,’ Allen continued.
According to the lawsuit, McFadden entered the Green Line L Station on Cicero and Lake Street at 10:16 p.m. on July 20, 2024. At 10:17 p.m., he fell from the platform onto the eastbound CTA Green Line tracks.
There were other passengers waiting on the train platform who “attempted to notify the CTA employee at the control booth that Malcolm had fallen on the tracks, but the CTA employee was not at the control booth or located in the station,” according to the lawsuit. Bystanders also attempted to call 911 because “no CTA employee could be located on the premises to render aid or respond to the emergency.”
More than eight minutes after he fell onto the tracks, the lawsuit states, the “CTA employee for the Cicero Green Line station appeared and further delayed in contacting CTA representatives to remove power to the third rail.”
“Upon information and belief, the CTA employee on duty during this time was either asleep, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or both, and was therefore unable to respond to the incident in a timely manner,” the lawsuit states.
In an email to The TRiiBE, a CTA spokesperson wrote that the agency is unable to comment on pending litigation.
The complaint alleges that CTA “committed multiple acts or omissions in reckless disregard for the safety of Malcolm McFadden.”
Those acts or omissions include: “1) “failing to shut off power to the third rail despite observing or being made aware that Malcom McFadden was on the tracks, 2) failing to assign, supervise, or ensure the presence of a competent employee a the Cicero Green Line station during operating hours, 3) failing to respond to the scene or contact emergency responders despite having video surveillance and command access showing Malcolm McFadden visibly disoriented and late electrocuted on the tracks, 4) failed to act despite repeated efforts by bystanders to notify CTA personnel of an emergency and 5) failed to ensure that the on-site CTA employee was alert, sober, and capable of performing required safety duties, despite being assigned to a critical safety-sensitive position,” and more.
The circumstances of McFadden’s death and the delay in notification from the ME still weigh heavily on his family.
“My hope is that I get justice for Malcolm,” his mother said.
