Police charged a driver with first-degree murder after he allegedly struck pedestrian Steven Moore, 63, Saturday in Roseland, and then turned his car around and ran Moore over again as he struggled to get up, killing him. The motorist then reportedly drove around the neighborhood threatening other people until he rammed another driver, fled on foot, and was finally arrested.
According to the initial Chicago Police Department statement, Moore was struck on Saturday, July 13, around 6:11 a.m. at 107th Street and Emerald Avenue (730 W.) He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, who was unknown, fled and was not immediately apprehended.
According to a Sun-Times report by Matthew Hendrickson and Emmanuel Camarillo published in the evening of Tuesday, July 16, Parrish Hartley, 49, was charged for the killing, plus other offenses. Security video showed that, just before the killing, the driver of a black Audi sedan was chasing a person near 107th and Halsted (800 W.) streets.
During a court hearing on Monday, July 15, Cook County prosecutors said that soon after the chase, Moore left a GoLo Gas Station at the northeast corner of 107th and Halsted. Moore walked south across 107th, and then headed east towards Emerald. The motorist can be seen on video driving east behind the Moore and then stopping at 107th/Emerald. As Moore started crossing Emerald in the south crosswalk, the driver sped up, turned south on the one-way northbound street, and hit him. The victim was roughly a block from his home.
The prosecutors said that, horrifically, the motorist then made a U-turn and struck Moore again as he was trying to crawl to safety, dragging the victim a short distance, according to the Sun-Times. Hartley then allegedly got out of the Audi, stood over Moore, and then got back in the car and fled east on 107th.
Nearby resident Alvera Henderson, 96 described Moore as a friendly person who helped out neighbors by offering to shovel sidewalks and mow lawns, the Sun-Times reported. "He would also call me and ask if I needed him to bring me anything," she said. "He was very helpful. He was a good person." She added that Moore's family were longtime residents of the area.
Prosecutors said that after the murder Hartley harassed other people before he was ultimately apprehended, according to the Sun-Times. Less than 30 minutes after killing Moore, the driver confronted a dog walker on Lowe Avenue (630 W.) near 113th Street and threatened to kill him "just like the others." That person fled to a backyard, and Hartley got something out of his trunk. About 15 minutes later he allegedly threatened to stab another person near 111th and Green Street (830 W.)
According to prosecutors, soon afterwards, Hartley saw a woman, 50, driving away from a McDonald's and began following her, then rammed her car with his Audi near 116th Street and Halsted Street, the Sun-Times reported. He exited his car with the knife, but saw a witness watching him, and Hartley returned to his vehicle. The witness pinned Hartley's driver-side door closed with his own car, but the assailant fled on foot. Police officers apprehended Hartley about 20 minutes later, around 7:25 a.m., in the 700 block of West 114th Street, and the female victim IDed him. Hartley lives about a mile south of the gas station where he encountered Moore.
Prosecutors said Hartley is the registered owner of the Audi, which had bloodstains and front-end damage, and matched the vehicle from the security video, according to the Sun-Times.
Judge Deidre Dyer ordered Huntley to be detained until the trial, the Sun-Times reported. He has previously been charged with misdemeanor aggravated assault for allegedly threatening another man with a gun, and was released on his own recognizance until a scheduled July 22 hearing.
Regardless of your perspective on our local criminal justice system, it appears to be tragic that Hartley was still at large last Saturday. Otherwise, it's likely Steven Moore would still be alive.
Read the Sun-Times report here.
Update 7/18/24, 9:30 AM: John Hill, founder of the entertainment corporation Team John Hill recently posted the following message on Facebook, stating that Parrish Hartley worked for the company and was fired on June 22. That was the month Hartley was charged with "misdemeanor aggravated assault for "allegedly brandished a handgun at a man," according to the Sun-Times. Hill wrote that his company is cooperating with the authorities on the current investigation.
Fatality Tracker: 2024 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets
Pedestrian: 11
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 July 13, 2024, a car driver struck Steven Moore, 63, at 107th Street and Emerald Avenue in Rosedale, turned around, and fatally ran him over again.
• 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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