CTA crime: Duo with rap sheets charged in robbery of 16-year-old rider

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Shannon Stephens (left) and Markell Harper | Chicago police

CHICAGO - Two men were charged with robbing a 16-year-old who was riding a CTA Red Line train last week on Chicago's South Side.

What we know:

Shannon Stephens, 23, and Markell Harper, 20, allegedly took property from the teen by force on Feb. 19 while riding a train near the Garfield station.

Roughly 10 minutes after the robbery, the pair were arrested in the 100 block of West 33rd Street and the 100 block of West 35th Street.

Each man was charged with one felony count of robbery. Stephens, of the Austin neighborhood, was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing a peace officer. 

Stephens and Harper were ordered held in Cook County Jail ahead of their next court hearings scheduled for Monday.

Criminal history

Dig deeper:

Stephens has been arrested in Chicago three times since 2021, with his most recent charges coming last September for a violent armed robbery on a Red Line train near the 47th Street station.

Stephens allegedly slashed a 41-year-old man with a knife and fled with his belongings. He was charged with armed robbery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and aggravated battery in a public place in connection with the attack.

Harper, of Gary, Indiana, has been arrested in Chicago three other times since April 2025 on charges of retail theft and simple battery.