Update, 7/27/23, 11:45 AM: ABC Chicago reports that Athamana's children are honoring their mother, and begging the driver who killed her to turn themself in so they can have closure. Her son Tony Khounphachan described Athamana, who immigrated to Chicago from Laos, as a "single mom [who] did both jobs, raised me to be a man, loved to cook, always had a smile on her face." He added, "My fault is never learning her recipes. Now I can't."
Khounphachan and friends have created a GoFundMe page to cover funeral expenses that has raised over $7,800.
For the first time in 2023, there was a pedestrian death in one of Chicago's North Lakefront neighborhoods last night. A speeding hit-and-run driver struck and killed Soyfa Athamanah, 69, as she crossed Broadway in Uptown.
According to the Chicago Police Department, on Tuesday, July 25, at about 10:35 p.m. Athamanah was crossing Broadway at Winona Avenue (5100 N.) The driver of a black car, possibly a Honda sedan, was driving north when they fatally struck the senior and then fled north.
The victim suffered "an external injury of the head" and was transported by the Chicago Fire Department to Illinois Masonic Hospital, according to CPD. Athamanah, who lived in the 4400 block of North Wolcott Avenue in Lincoln Square, was pronounced dead at 11:20 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
As of this afternoon, no one was is custody, police said. People with information are asked to call the Major Accident Investigation Unit at (312) 745-4521.
Winona jogs at Broadway. The marked crosswalk on the south side of the intersection has a pedestrian island. However, the one on the north side the junction does not, due to the presence of a left-turn lane for a supermarket and a doughnut shop. And if a person is walking east to Broadway on the south sidewalk of Winona, or west to Broadway on the north side of Winona, there is no direct marked crosswalk for them at all.
A depiction of the collision on the CPD crash report indicates that Athamanah was crossing Broadway on the north side of the intersection, so there was no pedestrian island for her to use. It appears that the driver swerved into the southbound lanes when they struck Athamanah.
According to the report, the responding officers saw blood on the street when they arrived. There were multiple security cameras near the intersection. Witnesses include Chicago Sun-Times photographer Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere, who said he happened to be driving home on Broadway right behind the hit-and-run driver.
Shortly after the crash, LaRiviere started a Twitter thread on his experiences, stating that he believed the driver intended to strike the woman. "Just witnessed someone speed up and intention[ally] strike a woman while [she was] crossing Broadway and Winona," he said in his first post. "Called police and EMS but I think this woman is dead."
“I didn’t see brake lights,” LaRiviere was quoted as saying in a Sun-Times report. “I saw him swerve and speed up a bit. She then flew into the air... The [driver] swerved again and I thought they were going to pull to the side and take accountability, but they continued to drive on."
The intersection is on the border of the 47th and 48th wards. A Streetsblog reader tweeted this morning that he had previously warned the ward offices and the Chicago Department of Transportation that, given the layout of the intersection, it was inevitable that someone would be killed there.
Streetsblog Chicago Fatality Tracker
Pedestrian: 17
Bicyclist: 3
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.
View an interactive map of 2023 Chicago pedestrian and bike fatalities here.
2023 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases
- On July 25, 2023 a hit-and-run driver killed pedestrian Soyfa Athamanah, 69, in 5100-block of N. Broadway in Uptown.
- On July 13, 2023, a man was fatally injured after he was dragged by a driver and he struck another motorist's car at 818 S. Pulaski Rd.
- On May 29, 2023, a hit-and-run driver killed Angela R. Mcknight, 49, crossing in the 1200 block of S. Independence Dr.
- On April 14, 2023, a Chrysler driver fatally struck a man, 59, on the 8800 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in Chatham.
- On April 8, 2023, a turning sedan driver struck and killed Tracy Burton, 55, crossing the street at Laramie Avenue and Jackson Boulevard in Austin.
- On March 29,2023, a sedan driver struck and killed a male pedestrian, 46, on the 2000 block of North Cicero in Belmont Cragin.
- On March 25, 2023, a driver ran a stop sign at Washington and Green streets in the West Loop, fatally striking James Robert Thompson and fled the scene.
- On March 19, 2023, a left-turning van driver fatally struck Guo Ning Li, 78, in a crosswalk at 24th Street and Wentworth Avenue in Chinatown.
- On February 20, 2023, a right-turning FedEx step van driver ran over and killed Marsha Frankel, 72, in a crosswalk at Roosevelt Road and Wabash Avenue in the South Loop.
- On February 14, 2023, a CTA bus driver fatally struck Kevin Herrera, 28, at at 47th Street and Ashland Avenue in Back of the Yards.
- On February 7, 2023, a driver fatally struck Erik S. Wills, 49, on the 8800 block of South May Street in Gresham.
- On February 6, 2023, a motorist struck and killed Stevenson Mays, 59, on the 5600 block of South Racine Avenue in West Englewood and fled the scene.
- 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.
2023 Chicago bike fatalities
- On June 24, 2023, a left-turning driver fatally struck Józef Strus, 67, who was riding a bike at 57th Street and Natchez Avenue in Garfield Ridge.
- On June 7, 2023, bike rider Ron Mendoza, 43, died from injuries sustained in a July 5 crash with a car driver at Wrightwood Avenue and Pulaski Road in Logan Square.
- On May 7, 2023, bike rider Rick Lomas was traveling south on California Avenue in Humboldt Park when he was was fatally struck by a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix driver who left the scene.
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