Sadly, this morning a hit-and-run driver struck and killed Halyna Hudzan, 66, in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago's West Town community area. She immigrated from Ukraine to the U.S., and her husband Father Volodymyr Hudzan is the former pastor of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, 835 N. Oakley Blvd. The crash took place at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Oakley Boulevard, just south of the church.
According to the initial Chicago Police Department report, at around 8:48 a.m., Huzdan was in a crosswalk when the turning driver of a 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross SUV struck her and fled the scene. She was transported to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. As of this evening, no one was in custody.
The Illinois Traffic Crash Report, prepared by the responding CPD officers, provides more information about what reportedly happened. Hudzan's home address is listed as being very near the crash site. While the SUV owner's address is stated as being about a half mile south of the crash site, the driver's name is listed as "unknown".
According to the traffic crash report, four witnesses told responding officers that Hudzan was walking west across Oakley in its south crosswalk with Chicago Avenue. The report narrative states that the northbound SUV driver "was stopped at a solid red light and made a right turn, striking [the pedestrian. The motorist] paused and then proceeded to drive over the victim. [The driver] then continued to drive eastbound to a Mariano's located at 2021 W. Chicago Avenue, where [the motorist] dropped off a passenger." The narrative states that an Automated License Plate Reader located the vehicle at 1801 W. Armitage Avenue, about two miles northeast, at 9:02 a.m.
The CPD has released the following images of the vehicle and its plate number. Those with information on the case are asked to contact the Major Accident Investigation Unit at 312-745-4521 or call 911.Tips can also be left anonymously at CPDtip.com.
ABC Chicago reported that while Hudzan's husband now serves a parish near South Bend, Indiana, the couple was still living near and active with St. Nicholas Cathedral. "She sang in our church choir," church Administrative Specialist Phyllis Muryn Zaparaniuk told the news station. "Banquets and things that... we put on here, she was actively helping in that."
"When people came from Ukraine during the war, she was willing to help and do what she could to support these people, comfort these people, having come from Ukraine herself," Zaparaniuk added, according to ABC. "For someone to just mow her down and run away, I hope they never have to experience what the people now are experiencing. Especially her family and her grandchildren."
Watch the ABC Chicago report here.
Read more about Halyna Huzdan's life in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Fatality Tracker: 2025 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets
Pedestrian: 2
Bicyclist: 0
Streetsblog Chicago’s traffic death numbers represent fatal crashes on Chicago surface streets, based on media reports and/or preliminary Chicago Police Department data.
2025 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases
• On January 5, 2025, a Jeep driver fatally struck Alex Rivera, 32, in the 2600 block of West 60th Street in the Chicago Lawn community area.
• On January 23, 2025, a hit-and-run SUV driver struck and killed Halyna Hudzan, 66, on the 700 block of North Oakley Boulevard in West Town.
Did you appreciate this post? Streetsblog Chicago is currently fundraising to help cover our 2025-26 budget. If you appreciate our reporting and advocacy on local sustainable transportation issues, please consider making a tax-deductible donation here. Thank you.
