Screams. That is how Joyce Mobley learned of her son Julian Mobley's stabbing death which happened while he was working as a janitor at the Near West Side's Damen Avenue Green Line station - coming to the aid of another staffer who'd gotten pepper sprayed.

Joyce's daughter was in another room and had taken a call from Julian's wife.  I could hear my daughter in the front bedroom screaming,'' Joyce Mobley said.  That's how I got the news. 

Hardly able to hold onto the steering wheel, Joyce drove to Stroger Hospital to see her 41-year-old son.  It's terrible,'' she said, adding the only solace she has found is the thought of him resting after enduring such pain, at 3 p.m. at the Damen Green Line station, 154 N. Damen Ave.  It helps my heart. I know he's at peace because he's asleep. Now he's OK. 

The attack unfolded as the suspect, who is now in police custody after turning himself in, began to fight with another CTA worker, possibly a conductor, said Julian's mom.

Julian, who witnessed the fight, had turned his back to help the staffer, who couldn't see after having been pepper sprayed by the suspect. That's when the suspect stabbed Mobley in his neck with a sharp object, police said.

He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

A Friday autopsy determined he died of a stab wound to the neck and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

 It was a natural reaction, he was trying to help his co-worker clear his eyes,'' Mobley said.  He turned his back on the perpetrator. He didn't think the perpetrator

was upset with him,  his mom said.

 That's inhumane,  his mom said of the suspect's alleged actions.

Dwayne Mobley, the father of Julian Mobley, a CTA janitor fatally stabbed while working on the Green Line station on the Near West on Oct. 8, 2026. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Julian Mobley, 41, grew up in Woodlawn, where he currently still lived with his wife and two kids. They have a close-knit family, with many aunts and uncles, and a small circle of good friends.

He was one of four Mobley siblings 

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