CHICAGO _ A man charged with killing a 19-year-old University of Illinois at Chicago student last weekend spotted her on the street and grew frustrated when she didn't respond to his catcalls, Cook County prosecutors alleged Tuesday.
Donald Thurman, 26, tried to talk to Ruth George early Saturday morning, but when she kept walking, he became "angry he was being ignored," Assistant State's Attorney James Murphy said in court.
Thurman followed George into a parking garage on campus and choked her from behind until she fell unconscious, Murphy said. He then dragged her into her car and sexually assaulted her before fleeing from the garage on foot, the prosecutor said.
The Cook County medical examiner's office has ruled that George died from strangulation.
At a bond hearing Tuesday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Judge Charles Beach II ordered that Thurman be held in custody without bail.
Thurman's attorney said he has been homeless and has a history of mental health issues. She requested that he be placed in protective custody at Cook County Jail since receiving death threats.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, George's mother, who asked not to be named, offered a brief but aching remembrance of her daughter.
"Ruth lived out her deep faith in Jesus by loving and serving others, leaving a legacy of Christ-centered kindness and sacrifice," the statement said. "She was the beloved baby of our family. We grieve with hope. We hold no hatred towards the perpetrator, but our hope is no other girl would be harmed in this way and for a mother to never experience this type of heartache."
George's family reported her missing around 11 a.m. Saturday. UIC police traced her cellphone to the Halsted Street garage on campus. They found her unresponsive in the backseat of a car owned by her family, authorities said. Efforts to revive her failed.
UIC police Chief Kevin Booker said university surveillance cameras captured the suspect walking behind George as she entered the garage about 1:35 a.m. Saturday. About 35 minutes later, video footage showed the man walking south on Halsted, the chief said.
Booker said other video footage showed the suspect's travel patterns, and UIC detectives staked out the CTA Blue Line, believing they might find him there. About 2 a.m. Sunday, UIC detectives saw someone matching the suspect's description at the Halsted and Harrison station and took him into custody, the chief said.
Thurman confessed about 3:20 p.m. Sunday, according to Booker.
George, who was living in Berwyn, had graduated in 2018 from Naperville Central High School, where she competed on the gymnastics team. Her coach, Christina Tardy, said the news of George's death "devastated" the school.
"Ruth was such a sweet girl and had the biggest and brightest smile," she said. "We loved having her as a member of the NCHS gymnastics team, and she was so fun to watch compete, especially on the floor exercise. She was a great teammate, and we are going to miss her dearly."
George's former teammates recalled her as a personable and dynamic young woman who had a kind word for everyone.
"For the girls who were new on the team each season, she was always one to help make everyone feel welcome, and the girls were drawn to her because of that," Mary Grace Maxwell said. "It's incredibly heartbreaking to know someone took this beautiful girl away from us."
Natalie Lefkowitz said the music George chose for her floor routine _ "Run the World (Girls)," a feminist anthem by Beyonce _ captured what her friend was all about.
"It completely embodied her," Lefkowitz said. " ... That song is forever hers. Whenever I hear Beyonce, I'll always think of her."
Ruby Killingsworth, a teammate and close friend, remembered countless good times. Once, she said, they were attempting a challenging gymnastics move called a Shushunova, bouncing their flattened bodies off the floor into a pushup position. When each performed an identical face-plant, she said, they collapsed into laughter.
"I can't explain her laugh," she said. "It was so contagious. She just had this smile and this laugh that were something else."
Killingsworth said they both decided that they wanted to work in the health field. Killingsworth is majoring in pre-med, while UIC officials said George, a member of the honors college, was studying kinesiology with the goal of becoming a physical therapist. When either struggled with her studies, Killingsworth said, the other offered encouragement.
"Anyone who knew Ruth, who was friends with her, knows that even though Ruth is gone, we have a beautiful guardian angel watching over us," Killingsworth said. "She's at peace now. I am happy to have even gotten to know her in the short time we had with her."
Thurman was sentenced to six years in state prison for a 2016 armed robbery and was released last year, court records show. An arrest report alleged that Thurman snatched an iPhone from a woman's hands before fleeing in a stolen car. Thurman was scheduled to remain on parole until late 2021, according to prison records.
