Driver fatally struck pedestrian Refaat Shafikmeshreki, 71, in Douglas

On Wednesday, March 3, a motorist struck and killed 71-year-old Refaat Shafikmeshreki as he walked in the Douglas community area on the Near South Side.

At about 6:10 p.m., Shafikmeshreki was walking in the street in the 3400 block of South King Drive, according to police. A woman, 44, struck him while driving north. In this location, King is a wide, six-lane road, which encourages speeding.

The victim was taken to the University of Chicago medical center, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy ruled that his death was accidental.

The motorist told responding officers that "Shafikmeshreki was walking in the roadway near the crosswalk and continued to walk into traffic," according to a Sun-Times report. Police cited her for failure to exercise due care for a pedestrian in the roadway.

Pedestrian: 4
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.