Man sentenced over 40 years in stabbing that killed ex-girlfriend on Loop CTA platform

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death on a downtown CTA platform last year will spend 41 years behind bars.

Alejandro Arellano of Chicago was accused of attacking 26-year-old Samantha Maldonado, while she waited for a train at the Adams and Wabash platform in the Loop in March of 2023.

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Police say Maldonado identified Arellano as her attacker before she died.

He was convicted of first-degree murder in October.

According to prosecutors, the victim and suspect were in a relationship for about five months, but broke up before the attack.

Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Anne McCord previously said Arellano met up with Maldonado at Miller's Pub before the stabbing.

The manager, Matt Gallios, said he took little notice of a couple tucked in the dark back corner of the classic bar near Wabash and Adams.

It was nearly closing time when he said the woman ran out of the bar with a man, who police and family said was her ex-boyfriend, close on her heels.

"As the defendant was going up the stairs of the CTA station, he pulled out a folding knife from his pocket and extended the blade," McCord said. "He then put the knife back into his pocket."

Prosecutors say once Maldonado got on the platform, she tried to hide behind a CTA equipment box, but Arellano wasn't far behind. She then tried to board an arriving train, but prosecutors say he stopped her, pushing her away. The train then left them both.

Surveillance video shows the victim trying to walk away, and that's when prosecutors say Arellano attacked her.

"As the defendant approached the victim from behind, he grabbed her neck and shoulder area and stabbed her multiple times," McCord said. "She was able to pull away from the defendant and stumble down the CTA steps. The defendant stayed on the platform, boarded a train and went home."

Bloodied and gasping for life, investigators said Maldonado stumbled back down to the street, where witnesses gathered around her to help. Those bystanders couldn't save her life, but police said her dying words solved her own murder.

"She named Arellano as the offender before she succumbed to her injuries," First Deputy Supt. Eric Carter said.

About 14 hours later, Arellano was arrested outside of his home while prosecutors say he was wearing the same clothes he wore during the attack and still had the weapon used in his pocket.

Maldonado's father rushed to Chicago from Ecuador to identify his daughter, who was a trained engineer.

She left her South American home less than a year before her death, in pursuit of something better.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.

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