Patsy Ely, 62, killed in Logan DUI crash, was first Chicago pedestrian fatality of 2021

A minivan driver has been charged with a DUI after killing pedestrian Patsy Ely, 62, on Monday afternoon, January 4, in Logan Square. Ely was the first person to be fatally struck on foot in Chicago this year.

According to police, at about 4:50 p.m. Ely was walking in the 3900 block of West Fullerton Avenue. As she was near a crosswalk, the 41-year-old female driver of a white Dodge Caravan fatally struck her. The Chicago Tribune reported that a police spokesperson said the crash report did not specify whether Ely was on the sidewalk or crossing the street when she was hit.

Ely was transported to Illinois Masonic Hospital where she was pronounced dead, the Cook County medical examiner's office said.

Police News Affairs identified the drive as Jennifer Martinez, of the 4100 block of North Lawndale Avenue. She was arrested at the crash site and charged with a felony count of aggravated DUI resulting in a death, plus two misdemeanor DUI charges, and cited for operating an uninsured motor vehicle. She has a bond court appearance scheduled on Thursday at the Cook County courthouse, 2600 S. California Ave.

West of the Chicago River, Fullerton is generally a five-lane street with a layout that encourages speeding. Other recent pedestrian fatality cases on Fullerton within two miles of this crash site include:

• On July 18, 2018, a speeding driver fatally struck Alberto Zavala, 64, as he tried to cross the street on the 5200 block of West Fullerton in Belmont Cragin. The motorist fled the scene.
• On August 31, 2019, a speeding driver struck and killed Myrna Logan, 81, and injured several other people who were standing at a bus stop on the 4700 block of West Fullerton in Belmont Cragin.

Fatality Tracker: 2021 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets

Pedestrian: 1
Bicyclist: 0

Note: Streetsblog Chicago’s traffic death numbers represent fatal crashes on Chicago surface streets, based on media reports and/or preliminary Chicago Police Department data released by the Chicago Department of Transportation.