Until recently, there appeared to have been no reports of pedestrian or bike fatality cases on the Chicago Police Department's Media Major Incident Notifications website, or in local media reports, since February 1. That was when a trucker fatally struck Hattie Mickell, 76, as she walked in the street on near Madison Street and Western Avenue on the Near West Side.
However, tragically, within the last week, two people on foot were struck and killed in the Norwood Park and Clearing community areas. The Norwood Park case was in Ald. Anthony Napolitano's (41st) ward, and the Clearing crash was in Ald. Marty Quinn's (13th) district. They both recently voted against a proposed ordinance to lower Chicago's default speed limit from 30 to 25 mph, which has proved successful in reducing the number of pedestrian fatalities in peer cities like New York.
Motorcycle rider fatally struck Camryn Green, 26, in Norwood Park
According to the initial police statement, last Friday, March 14, around 3:11 p.m., Camryn Green, 26, was "walking in the [unmarked] crosswalk" on the 6500 block of West Higgins Avenue in the Norwood Park community area. A man, 20, riding on a motorcycle, struck her, and then collided with another vehicle.
Green was taken to Lutheran General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. The motorcyclist was charged with felony reckless homicide.
According to a Block Club report, Green worked as a substitute special education classroom assistant, and was heading home from a nearby elementary school when the motorcyclist killed her. "Cam was so incredibly selfless," her longtime boyfriend Jake Voegtle told the news outlet. "She always wanted to put others before herself. If anyone ever needed help with something, she would always be the first jump into action."
Voegtle said Green lived close to the border of Norwood Park's Union Park neighborhood and the Jefferson Park community area, Block Club reported. She was walking home from Beard Elementary School, 6445 W Strong St., half a mile directly south of the crash site, when the motorcycle rider killed her.
A GoFundMe was launched to cover funeral expenses, which had raised over $20,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. A free memorial celebration featuring music that Green loved will be held Friday, March 21, from 9 to 9:45 p.m. at Gallery Cabaret, 2020 N. Oakley St. in Logan Square.
Read more about Camryn Green's life in the Block Club article.
Update 5/20/25, 12:15 PM: The Illinois Traffic Crash Report, completed by responding Chicago Police Department officers, provides more information about what reportedly happened. According to the narrative on the document, when the police arrived, two different witnesses told them Camryn Green was walking north across Higgins Road at Neenah Avenue when the eastbound motorcyclist struck her.
"They observed that eastbound traffic on Higgins had come to a complete stop and that an unknown vehicle [driver] waved the pedestrian to cross the street," the narrative states. "Witnesses related that they observed [the motorcycle rider driving] in a reckless manner, traveling at a high rate of speed. [He] went around the stopped traffic and crossed the center line of the street, and at that time [he struck Green]." The crash report says the motorcycle rider then hit a westbound car.
The report says that, like Green, the motorcyclist was transported to Lutheran General. He was in critical condition with "a laceration to the head and left leg."
Driver caused three-car crash that killed pedestrian Jamie Cerney, 38, near Midway Airport
According to police, on Monday, March 17, the driver of a white Infiniti sedan driving west on the 5200 blog of West 63rd Street, near Midway Airport, sideswiped a black Infiniti sedan heading in the same direction. At this location, 63rd is a four-lane street which encourages speeding. One of the vehicles then hit a westbound white Nissan sedan. The white Infiniti then jumped the curb and struck Jamie Cerney, 38, on the sidewalk, and then hit a building.
Cerney was transported to Christ Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Three of the car occupants were hospitalized. There are a no citations pending.
According to an ABC Chicago report, the building that the white Infiniti struck is an airport hangar.
Update 3/20/25, 1:30 PM: The crash report, filled out by responding officers, has more details about what witnesses say happened. The collision happened on 63rd Street east of Long Avenue.
According to the narrative, the driver of the white Infiniti (Unit 1 in the above image), a 19-year-old man, was traveling west in the outside lane when he tried to merge into the inside lane, striking the westbound black Infiniti (Unit 2). The the driver of the white Infiniti then "swerved and jumped the sidewalk," striking Jamie Cerney, crashing through the wall of the hangar, and hitting an electric generator. Cerney was transported to Christ Hospital with lacerations to the right side of his head and the back of his head, as well as shoulder abrasions, and pronounced dead.
After the first motorist sideswiped his car, the driver of Unit 2, a 22-year-old man, also swerved and struck the Nissan (Unit 3), causing him to go into the oncoming traffic lanes, according to the report. He ended up just south of 63rd on the east side of Long, "where his vehicle was disabled."
The driver of Unit 1 was taken to Christ Hospital in fair condition with a laceration to the top of his head and abrasions to his face and arms. Other car occupants were hospitalized with less serious injuries.
Update 3/21/25, 10:00 AM: An obituary for Jamie Cerney says that, like Green, he worked in special education, as a "special needs teacher at the Chicago Arts School." The obituary states, "He enjoyed: playing guitar, listening to music, watching soccer and professional wrestling, doing crafts with his niece Gemma, playing with his nephew Gavin, and especially being with his family and friends."
According to a WGN report, locals say that drag racing is rampant on this road near Midway. "Sounds like 'The Fast and the Furious' going down 63rd Street," one longtime homeowner told the station.
Local Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), who voted against the speed limit reduction, discussed the grag racing issue in a statement. "The 13th Ward has been a hotspot for drag racing and drifting, which is one of the many reasons I’ve been pushing for a new police district for the Southwest Side, where we have the fewest number of police officers per capita in the entire city."
Fatality Tracker: 2025 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets
Pedestrian: 5
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 24, 2025, a hit-and-run SUV driver struck and killed Halyna Hudzan, 66, on the 700 block of North Oakley Boulevard in West Town.
• On February 1, 2025, a truck driver struck and killed Hattie Mickell, 76, walking in the street on the 0-100 block of South Western Avenue on the Near West Side.
• On March 14, 2025, a motorcycle rider fatally struck Camryn Green, 26, as she crossed the street in the 6500 block of Higgins Avenue in Norwood Park.
• On March 17, 2025, a sedan driver sideswiped another car, then jumped the curb and fatally struck Jamie Cerney, 38, on the sidewalk of the 5200 blog of West 63rd Street in Clearing.
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