'I am shaken to my core by such cowardly violence,' Mayor Lori Lightfoot says about death of UIC student Ruth George

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot is vowing to take action to make sure women feel protected in Chicago following the murder and sexual assault of a University of Illinois student whose body was found in a campus parking garage.

Donald Thurman, 26, is charged with first-degree murder and sexual assault in the slaying of 19-year-old Ruth George early Saturday. Thurman allegedly confessed after being arrested Sunday morning, police said.

Prosecutors claim Thurman became upset when George ignored his catcalls.
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Lightfoot is calling George's death "alarming and devastating."



"As a woman, I am shaken to my core by such cowardly violence," the mayor said.
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Lightfoot addressed "perpetrators of this type of harassment," saying that, "Women do not owe you anything. Ever."



A judge has ordered Thurman be held without bail. Police said he has no connection to the university and didn't know George.

The 19-year-old sophomore was found strangled in the backseat of her family's car at a UIC parking garage near Halsted and Taylor streets.