Teen allegedly followed, killed man selling loose cigarettes on South Side Red Line train

A 17-year-old boy was ordered held without bail Thursday for allegedly shooting and killing a man who had been selling loose cigarettes on the CTA Red Line last month.

Cook County prosecutors didn’t say what provoked the alleged gunman, Sherell Stafford, but they said surveillance cameras captured the Aug. 19 shooting that claimed the life of 23-year-old Keiwaun Crayton.

Stafford was with two others on the train when Crayton entered the car around 4:15 p.m., appearing to be selling loose cigarettes, prosecutors said.

As Crayton walked to another train car, Stafford and the two others followed. But at some point, Crayton held the door between the cars shut, prosecutors said.

When the train stopped at the Garfield stop, Stafford and the pair exited their car and quickly walked to the car where Crayton was, prosecutors said. Stafford then approached Crayton, lifted up his shirt and displayed a gun in his waistband, prosecutors said.

Crayton pushed Stafford away before the two began fighting, prosecutors said. During the fight, Stafford allegedly pulled out his gun and shot Crayton several times, causing him to fall backward to the door.

Afterward, Stafford and the two others ran from the train and got onto a CTA bus, prosecutors said.

Police were able to track Stafford after they recovered his fingerprints on a McDonald’s cup he was seen holding on the train, prosecutors said.

The teenager was arrested Wednesday in the first block of East Chicago Avenue, police said.

Stafford was on probation for a 2020 juvenile gun conviction when he killed Crayton, prosecutors said.

Stafford was charged as an adult for Crayton’s murder.

Stafford lives with his mother in Chicago and has 10 brothers and sisters, his attorney said.