(WTTW News)

A Chicago man will be held without bail after he allegedly followed a stranger into a Lincoln Park store in broad daylight, grabbed her and choked her for several minutes until a witness could pry him off the woman’s body.

Kenyate Jackson, 26, appeared in court Thursday afternoon on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery of a victim over the age of 60, two days after the alleged attack.

According to Cook County prosecutors, a 61-year-old woman was walking toward a bus stop in the 2700 block of North Clark Street around 3 p.m. Tuesday when she noticed Jackson standing in the street blocking a bus.

The woman then watched as Jackson walked from the street to the sidewalk and began following her, prosecutors said. He matched the woman’s pace as she sped up to try and get away from him, and she turned and entered a clothing store because she felt “unsafe,” according to prosecutors.

Jackson allegedly followed her inside, yelled out that he was going to kill the woman and then grabbed her in a headlock and started choking her. She struggled to get away from Jackson, and the two eventually fell to the ground behind the store’s counter as witnesses yelled at Jackson to let the woman go, prosecutors said.

Jackson allegedly tried to wrap his legs around the woman to keep her from getting away, and used a metal pole that had fallen on the ground to further choke the victim. She was able to push that bar away, but Jackson allegedly started to choke her again with his arm.

This attack lasted for approximately eight minutes, prosecutors said, until a witness in the store was able to pull Jackson off the woman and hold him until police arrived and arrested him. The woman, who survived, told police she had never met nor seen Jackson before.

During Thursday’s hearing, Jackson’s public defender Genevieve O’Toole said her client has been homeless for the past two months and “vehemently denies” the charges against him.

But Cook County Judge Charles Beach noted that there were multiple witnesses to the attack, which was also captured on surveillance footage. He also cited the “callousness,” “brazenness” and “viciousness” of Jackson’s alleged actions in denying his request for bail.

Jackson is due back in court for a hearing on Aug. 18.

Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431