Tragically, on Sunday evening a pickup truck driver failed to yield while turning and fatally struck Xyaire Askew, 4, at 82nd Street and Harper Avenue in the Avalon Park community. The fact that his vehicle had a high front end, which makes it more difficult to see what's in the road, may have contributed to the crash.
According to the initial police statement, on Sunday, June 2, around 5:24 p.m., a male pickup driver, 52, was traveling west on 82nd. He was turning north onto Harper when he struck Xyaire.
The boy was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The driver was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in the roadway.
The Illinois Traffic Crash Report, completed by the Chicago Police Department, provides more information about what reportedly happened. It lists the pickup as a 2021 Dodge Ram 3500. The driver told responding officers that after traveling west on 82nd, he stopped at the four-way stop sign and looked both ways before turning right, northbound.
The driver told police that as he was turning, his passenger notified him of the presence of a child in the street. The motorist told the officers he did not see Xyaire but "felt something collide into the front of his vehicle" before he could come to a complete stop.
The report states that the motorist agree to submit to chemical testing. He was issued the failure to yield citation, with a court date scheduled for July 25, at 1 p.m.
According to an ABC7 Chicago report, relatives said Xyaire had been visiting his father and playing with other children when he ran out into the street. "The truck [driver] hit him and then he fell, and then the back tire rolled over his head," neighbor Kenneth Howard told ABC.
The ABC report shows that the Dodge had a high front end. That may have contributed to the driver failing to see the small child before running him over.
"I can't take my baby back with me," Xyaire's mother, Cheronda Morris told ABC. "Such an amazing person. He was so lovable... so lovable, and I loved that boy to pieces, and I know he loved me back."
A verified GoFundMe page has been launched to help support Xyaire's family.
View the ABC7 Chicago report here.
Learn more about Xyaire's life from this Chicago Sun-Times report.
Fatality Tracker: 2024 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets
Pedestrian: 10
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.
2024 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases
• On June 2, 2024, a pickup truck driver fatally struck Xyaire Askew, 4, at 82nd Street and Harper Avenue in Avalon Park.
• On May 15, 2024, a hit-and-run trucker struck and killed Karl Hall, 44, at he walked across Halsted Street at Maxwell Street in University Village.
• On March 31, 2024, a hit-and-run sedan driver fatally struck CPS teacher Charles "Charlie" Mills, 56, in the 6400 block of South Pulaski Road in West Lawn.
• On March 3, 2024, an SUV driver fatally struck a man police said was "sitting in the street" on the 3100 block of West Marquette Road in Chicago Lawn.
• On February 25, 2024, a pickup driver failed to yield while making a left turn, fatally striking married couple Zofia Chruszcz, 72, and Ryszard Stebnicki, 75, in an unmarked crosswalk at Archer and McVicker avenues in Garfield Ridge.
• On February 22, 2024, a driver fatally struck a male pedestrian, 52, who was crossing South King Drive at 47th Street in the Grand Boulevard community.
• On February 8, 2024, a hit-and-run pickup driver ran a red and fatally struck Jiekun Xu, 68, as she crossed Pulaski Road at 44th Street in Archer Heights.
• On January 21, 2024, a hit-and-run SUV driver struck and killed David Marshall Hoyle III, 35, as he crossed 95th Street at Union Avenue in Washington Heights.
• On January 7, 2024, a hit-and-run SUV driver struck and killed Jason Kardish, 40, as he crossed Ashland Avenue at Diversey Parkway in Lincoln Park.
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