Last Thursday afternoon, a hit and run SUV driver fatally struck an unidentified 93-year-old woman, on the 300 block of South Laramie Avenue in Austin. The next day two other drivers struck and killed food delivery driver Jennifer Kelleher, 25, in the 5000 block of West Washington in Austin, only about six blocks away from the previous crash.
According to police and her family, at around 5:45 p.m. on January 27, Kelleher was making a delivery for Uber Eats at Washington and Lavergne Avenue to help raise money to raise her one-year-old son. As she walked south across Washington, the westbound driver of a white SUV struck her. She fell in the street, where she was run over by the westbound driver of a black sedan. both motorists fled the scene.
Kelleher was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to police.
As of Wednesday evening no one was in custody, police said. According to the crash report, responding officers were able to obtain video footage of the incident.
A witness told Streetsblog Kelleher's son was still in the back seat of her car when she was struck, and it appeared the mother had briefly left the vehicle to hand off the food to the customer. The child's father was contacted via the victim's cell phone and he rushed to the scene.
A GoFundMe has been launched to help raise money for Kelleher's family. "She was a loving mother of a little boy, and fiancee, and left behind her mother, sisters, and many who loved her," her sister Erika wrote. "Please help with what you can so she can be given a proper burial she deserves."
Fatality Tracker: 2023 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets (including one scooter-on-sidewalk case)
Pedestrian: 6
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.
2023 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases
- On January 27, 2023, two drivers collided on the 5000 block of West Washington Street in Austin and fatally struck Jennifer Kelleher, 25, and then both fled the scene.
- On January 26, 2023, an SUV driver fatally struck an unidentified woman, 93, on the 300 block of South Laramie Avenue in Austin and fled the scene.
- On January 10, 2023, a sedan driver struck and killed an unidentified man, 33, on the 3500 block of West Lake Street in East Garfield Park and fled the scene.
- On January 3, 2023, a cargo van driver fatally struck Jaime Cuadra, 47, as he was exiting a vehicle on 87th Street in front of the Red Line station.
- On January 2, 2023, a 45-year-old man was crossing Lafayette Avenue at 79th Street in Chatham when a speeding driver ran a red, fatally struck him, and fled the scene on foot.
- On January 2, 2023, near 72nd Street and Damen Avenue in West Englewood, Roy Lee, 21, was getting into his car when a driver swerved into oncoming lanes, fatally struck Lee and hit three parked cars, then fled the scene on foot.
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