The tragic hit-and-run killing of a mother of three as she crossed the street to get to her car in front of her West Garfield Park home last weekend laid bare the reality that we are all pedestrians during some point of our travels, and vulnerable to being struck by reckless drivers.
According to police, on Saturday, January 15, at about 8:10 p.m., Angel Thomas, 35, was heading to her car on the 4300 block of West Jackson Boulevard. An eastbound driver fatally struck her and fled east. Thomas was transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Police said no one is in custody, and they have not released images of the offender's vehicle. However, security footage appears to show the driver of a black SUV fleeing the scene.
"When you're a good person, you expect good things to happen to good people," Thomas' sister Theresa Dorsey told ABC Chicago. "You don't expect bad things to happen to good people.” Dorsey said Thomas had just left her apartment and was heading to a friend of the family's house when she was struck, adding that her sister's body was thrown from one end of the street to other.
Sadly, Thomas died only a few hours before her daughter turned 14. A neighbor told ABC the mother was planning a surprise birthday party.
In the ABC segment, Dorsey pleaded with the driver to turn themself in. "Just come forward. Children's lives were affected. Sisters, brothers, my mom, her dad – lives were affected."
Police have not yet released a description of the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run, but if you have any information you're asked to give Chicago police a call.
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.
