Girl, 17, driving SUV was cited for failure to exercise due care for a pedestrian after fatally striking Fontella Wyatt, 43, at Ashland/Ogden on Near West Side

Update 4/16/26, 9:45 AM: The Cook County medical examiner’s office has updated the spelling of the victim’s name. We have edited this article accordingly.

Tragically, a 17-year-old girl driving an SUV struck and killed Fontella Wyatt, 43, Sunday evening on the Near West Side. The motorist was cited for failure to exercise due care for a pedestrian in the roadway.

According to the initial police statement, on Sunday, April 12, around 9:00 p.m., the teen was driving northeast on Ogden Avenue towards Ashland Avenue. At this location, Ogden is a five-lane street, which encourages speeding, and Ashland has seven lanes, which also makes it easier to speed.

Police said that a 43-year-old woman was crossing Ogden “against the signal.” The initial statement added that “a witness who also remained on scene confirmed that the female driver of the silver SUV had the right-of-way due to the green traffic signal.”

After the girl struck the pedestrian, the woman suffered head trauma, according to police. She was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Today the Cook County medical examiner’s officer identified her as Fontella Wyatt, a resident of Humboldt Park.

While the initial CPD statement said “there are no citations pending,” today a Police News Affairs spokesman said the teen was cited for failure to exercise due care.

The traffic crash report wasn’t available today. That document may eventually shed light on whether any design elements of the SUV, such as a high front end, may have been a factor in Wyatt’s death.

Update 4/16/26, 12:00 PM: Streetsblog was able to obtain the Illinois Traffic Crash Report for this case, which provides more information about what reportedly happened. The teen was driving a 2016 Honda CRV crossover SUV, a model that does not have a particularly high front end.

The sketch of the crash scene on the report indicates that Wyatt was walking in the crosswalk at the east leg of the intersection.

The report narrative states that after the collision, responding police spoke with an off-duty officer who witnessed the incident while he was driving southwest on Ogden towards Ashland. He said Fontella was walking north in the crosswalk when the northeast-bound SUV driver approached Ashland “at a normal speed.” When she struck Wyatt, the victim “was thrown about 20-30, landing at approximate 1564 W. Ogden,” the northeast corner of the intersection, the off-duty officer said. He added that he “turned around, at which point he went to assist Wyatt who was unconscious but breathing.”

When the responding officer spoke with the teen, who was uninjured, she said she had a green at the time of the crash, and it was raining, the report states. “She observed a dark figure in front of her vehicle” but “did not have time to react, at which point she struck Wyatt” according to the narrative.

The R/Os issued the SUV driver a citation for failure to exercise due care, the report states. Her vehicle sustained heavy front-end damage. She was taken to Rush Medical Center, where she voluntarily took a DUI test.

Fatality Tracker: 2026 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets

Pedestrian: 5

Bicycle or e-scooter: 3

2026 Chicago pedestrian fatalities

• On Wednesday, January 7, around 8:44 a.m., a 42-year-old woman driving an SUV fatally struck a man, 64, crossing at 9498 S. Lafayette Ave. in Roseland.

• On Monday, February 16, around 4:12 p.m., a 37-year-old female truck driver struck and killed a woman, 63, in the 7200 block of West Bryn Mawr Avenue in Norwood Park.

• On Tuesday, March 3, around 6:15 PM, an SUV driver, 70, fatally struck a female pedestrian in the 4000 block of West Foster Avenue in the North Park neighborhood.

• On Wednesday, March 11, sometime before 10 p.m., a hit-and-run driver fatally struck a woman, 32, in the 2100 block of East 83rd Street in South Chicago.

• On Sunday, April 12, around 9 p.m., a 17-year-old girl driving an SUV fatally struck a Fontella Wyatt, 43, crossing Ogden Avenue at Ashland Avenue on the Near West Side.

2026 Chicago bicycle and e-scooter fatalities

• On Thursday, January 24, around 8:20 p.m., the 33-year-old male driver of a Toyota fatally struck Roman Havelka, 63, on a bicycle in the 8600 block of West Irving Park Road.

• On Saturday, March 21,  around 8:30 p.m., a hit-and-run driver fatally struck Violet Harris, 15, on an e-scooter in the 2800 block of East 77th Street in South Shore.

• On Sunday, April 5, around 1:20 a.m., a speeding, hit-and-run SUV driver fatally struck Damian Gomez, 18, on a bicycle at 63rd Street and Kedzie Avenue in Chicago Lawn.

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