Update 8/18/22: The victim has been identified as Angela Short. According to an ABC Chicago report, at a memorial on Saturday, Angela's aunt Kenya Parker described her as "the sweetest little girl you would ever want to know. Really laid-back, reserved, quiet, loved her family."
Angela was standing at the bus stop with her mother Kennetta Bradford when the driver struck them, ABC reported. Branford suffered broken bones and a punctured lung and is currently recovering at home.
The driver who caused the crash has been charged with a DUI, according to ABC. Linette Cheers, another of Short's aunts, said, "The recklessness of the actions of these people need to stop because they don't realize making these decisions, it's tearing families up."
Update 8/9/22: According to police, the Mercedes driver has been cited for running a red light, failure to reduce speed to prevent a crash, and operating an uninsured vehicle.
Last May a BMW driver fatally struck Concepcion Lopez, 82 while she waited for CTA bus in a shelter on the 2100 block of West Peterson Avenue in the West Ridge neighborhood on Chicago's North Side. On Friday there was a similar tragedy in Auburn Gresham on the South Side, when a Mercedes driver caused a crash that killed a 14-year-old girl at a bus stop and injured three other people.
According to police, on Friday, August 5, at about 6:35 p.m., the girl and a woman were standing at the bus stop at the southwest corner of 79th Street and Racine Avenue, next to a Walgreens A 33-year-old man driving west in a gold-colored Mercedes ran a red light and struck a black Jeep that was being driven southbound.
The Jeep careened onto the sidewalk, striking the two pedestrians. The girl was taken to the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Her identity has not yet been released.
The woman was transported to the University of Chicago Hospital in serious condition. The Mercedes driver was transported in serious condition to St. Bernard Hospital, as was the Jeep driver, a 42-year-old man who was in fair condition.
"Coming so fast, that's how he was able to knock that Jeep all the way up into the crowd of pedestrians that was waiting on the bus," witness Vincent Holland told CBS Chicago. I'm not sure how many, but I know that little girl was pinned up between those brakes... There wasn't nothing we could do about it."
Motorists killing people waiting for CTA buses is a tragically common occurrence, so much so that the city should consider installing guard rails in front of all bus stops, or at least bus shelters, in a way that does not interfere with bus boarding and exiting. Here's the full list of recent cases that have appeared in news reports.
- In August 2022, Angela Short was standing at a bus stop when she was killed after a Mercedes driver ran a red at 79th Street and Racine Avenue in Auburn Gresham, striking a Jeep, which careened onto the sidewalk. Three other people were injured in the crash.
- In May 2022, a BMW driver fatally struck Concepcion Lopez, 82 while she waited for CTA bus in a shelter on the 2100 block of West Peterson Avenue in the West Ridge neighborhood.
- In December 2021, a 68-year-old woman was standing at a bus stop at 75th Street and St. Lawrence Avenue in Grand Crossing when a Jeep driver ran a red, struck another vehicle, and veered onto the sidewalk, pinning the senior against a building and killing her.
- In September 2021, a 52-year-old woman was killed while waiting for a bus in at 81st Street and Racine Avenue in Auburn Gresham, by a hit-and-run driver who ran a red and struck another vehicle.
- In August 2019, Myrna Logan, 81, and several other people were standing at a bus stop at Fullerton and Cicero Avenues when a driver struck them, killing Logan and injuring several others.
- Also in August 2019, an SUV driver slammed into a bus shelter at 61st Street and King Drive Woodlawn, killing Beverly Barney, 59, and injuring a 60-year-old woman.
- In June 2019, a police chase in Jeffery Manor ended with the death of Michael Jordan, 27, who was sitting in a CTA bus shelter on the 9900 block of South Van Vlissingen Road when the fleeing driver struck him.
- In April 2018, a speeding SUV driver struck and killed Janice M. Gilmore, 67, while she was waiting for a CTA bus at a shelter on Stony Island Avenue near 95th Street in South Deering, and injured five other people.
Sign the Safe Streets for All petition demanding action from your alderpersons, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and the Chicago Department of Transportation to address Chicago's traffic fatality epidemic.
Fatality Tracker: 2022 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets (including one scooter-on-sidewalk case)
Pedestrian: 21
Bicyclist: 5
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.
2022 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases (including one scooter-on-sidewalk case)
- On August 5, 2022, a 14-year-old girl standing at a bus stop was killed after a Mercedes driver ran a red at 79th Street and Racine Avenue in Auburn Gresham, striking a Jeep, which careened onto the sidewalk. Three other people were injured in the crash.
- On August 2, 2022, a man died after he was crossing the street in the 4000 block of West 5th Avenue in West Garfield Park when a hit-and-run driver struck him, and another motorist ran over him.
- On July 30, 2022, a driver struck and killed Octavio Bahena Urquiza, 38, on the 4500 block of West Diversey Avenue and fled the scene.
- On July 4, 2022, a Jeep driver reportedly struck and killed a man on the 3200 block of South Pulaski Road in Little Village and fled the scene.
- On June 16, 2022, a hit-and-run driver struck and killed a Ja’lon James, 11, as he crossed the street in the 3300 block of West 16th Street in North Lawndale.
- On June 12, 2022, a distracted Nissan Altima sedan driver fatally struck Peter Paquette, 75, at Irving Park Road and Hoyne Avenue in North Center.
- On June 2, 2022, an SUV driver struck and killed 2-year-old Raphael “Rafi” Cardenas at Eastwood Avenue and Leavitt Street in Lincoln Square as the toddler rode a mini-scooter into the intersection.
- On May 27, 2022, a Honda sedan driver fatally struck Wilberto Rivera, 76, as he crossed North Avenue at Albany Avenue. He died from his injuries two weeks later on June 11.
- On May 27, 2022, a hit-and-run SUV driver fatally struck Martha Velazquez, 34, on the 2900 block of West Columbus Avenue in Ashburn.
- On May 19, 2022, a motorcyclist fatally struck Timothy Kast, 46, as he crossed the 5300 block of West Irving Park Road in Portage Park.
- On May 11, 2022, a BMW sedan driver struck and killed 82-year-old Concepcion Lopez, as she waited at a CTA bus stop on the 2100 block of West Peterson in West Ridge.
- On May 10, 2022, a left-turning van driver failed to yield to failed to yield to Berta Arroyo Salgado, 73, as she crossed the street in a crosswalk at Chicago Avenue and Paulina Street in West Town, killing the senior.
- On May 6, 2022, a Cadillac sedan driver ran a red light at Roosevelt Road and Damen Avenue on the Near West Side, struck another vehicle, and careened onto the sidewalk, killing a 33-year-old man.
- On April 17, 2022, a left-turning sedan driver fatally struck Yehuala Melkama, 44, as she walked in a crosswalk at Hazel and Sunnyside avenues in Uptown.
- On March 27, 2022, an SUV driver struck and killed Larry J. Davis, 68, at 3350 S. Kedzie Ave. in Little Village.
- On March 17, 2022, a left-turning driver struck and killed Miriam M. Grande, 70, at Grand and Austin avenues in the Belmont Central neighborhood and fled the scene.
- On March 15, 2022, a car driver fatally struck Allen Lee Jr., 88, as he attempted to cross Western Avenue at 109th Street in Morgan Park.
- On February 8, 2022, a Chicago police officer struck Javion Marquel Johnson, 20, with an SUV after Johnson had been shot multiple times, potentially contributing to his death, at 12111 S. Stewart Avenue in Rosehill.
- On January 20, 2022, a hit-and-run driver fatally struck Richard Haljean, 57, as he crossed Touhy Avenue at Oriole Avenue in Edison Park.
- On January 15, 2022 Angel Thomas, 35, was walking to her car on the 4300 block of West Jackson Boulevard in West Garfield Park when an SUV driver fatally struck her and fled.
- On January 12, 2022, an SUV driver struck and killed Deborah Renee Jones, 67, in the 6800 block of South Stony Island in South Shore.
2022 Chicago bike fatality cases
- On June 24, 2022, a cargo van driver fatally struck Joshua Avina-Luna, 15, near 62nd Street and Austin Avenue in the Clearing neighborhood
- On June 9, 2022, a semi truck driver ran over and killed Elizabeth “Lily” Grace Shambrook, 3, riding in a child seat on the back of her mother’s bike at Leland and Winthrop avenues in Uptown. The mother was uninjured.
- On May 4, 2022, a Nissan Versa sedan driver fatally struck Nick Parlingayan, 22, on his bike at Milwaukee and Kilbourn avenues in Irving Park.
- On April 16, 2022, an allegedly intoxicated hit-and-run Volkswagen Jetta driver fatally struck Paresh Chhatrala, 42, near Madison and Peoria streets in the West Loop.
- On February 28, 2022, a BMW sedan driver ran a red light at Balbo Drive and DuSable Lake Shore Drive in the Loop, fatally striking Gerardo Marciales, 41, on a Divvy bike.
