A 19-year-old university student with family roots in Hyderabad was sexually assaulted and murdered in a garage of the University of Illinois, Chicago

Victim wanted to be physiotherapist

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

HYDERABAD: A 19-year-old university student with family roots in Hyderabad was sexually assaulted and murdered in a garage of the University of Illinois , Chicago, where she was studying, on Saturday around 1.30am local time. A 26-year-old man out on parole has been arrested for her murder.Police tracked her phone following a missing complaint by the family and found her lifeless body in the rear seat of her family car in Halsted Street Garage at the university. The girl had been strangulated to death after being assaulted, cops said. The accused, Donald Thurman, has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault. The man was paroled after serving two of the six years’ jail term for armed robbery and was residing near the campus.University of Illinois police chief Kevin Booker said the girl was noticed entering the garage at 1.35 am on Saturday. Cops found CCTV footage of Thurman following her into the garage. Police traced back the movement of the accused and he was later arrested at Harrison Station on Sunday.The girl’s family had migrated to the US several years ago and her relatives live in Secunderabad . She is survived by her mother and two sisters who live at Berwyn, Illinois. The girl had graduated from Naperville Central High School last year and had joined University of Illinois to study kinesiology. Her goal was to become a physiotherapist.“Dearest baby…. we miss you…just not able to believe you’re no more.. You were a loving and wonderful daughter, sister and cousin..Rest in peace… we love you…,” wrote a relative in Hyderabad on her social media.In a statement, the university expressed its profound grief at the loss of the promising student who dreamt of being a health professional.