Authorities in Illinois have charged a 15-year-old boy with the random knife slaying of a man waiting for a bus while dressed in a clown costume. File Photo by Justin Lane/EPA-EFE
Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old boy has been charged with randomly stabbing a man to death at a southern Illinois bus stop while wearing a clown costume, authorities say.
Illinois State Police said the juvenile was formally charged with first-degree murder on Thursday in connection with the slaying of 78-year-old John W. Allen of Jennings, Mo., while Allen was waiting for a bus Monday night in East St. Louis, Ill.
East St. Louis Police Department responded to a report of a body lying in the street and discovered Allen, whom they determined was attacked by someone wearing "a clown outfit."
Special investigators with the Illinois State Police quickly tracked down the 15-year-old at a residence and took him into custody, they said in a statement.
