After hit-and-run driver struck and critically injured widely loved hairdresser Lisa Barber on May 11, she died from her injuries on May 24. Driver is still at large.

Last month Streetsblog reported on four different hit-and-run crash cases within five days that killed two vulnerable road users and critically injured two others. One of victims who didn’t immediately lose her life was hairdresser Lisa Barber, 45, who suffered head injuries from her collision in Humboldt Park. Tragically, after holding on for almost two weeks, she passed away on May 24. While I didn’t see coverage of this outcome during my daily headline searches, I appreciate multiple readers reaching last weekend weekend to share the sad news.

According to the preliminary Chicago Police Department statement, on Monday May 11 at around 7:56 p.m., Barber was walking north across Franklin Boulevard near Albany Avenue in Humboldt Park when an eastbound motorist in a maroon car hit her and drove off in an unknown direction without stopping to render aid. The pedestrian was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition.

According to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, Barber died on Sunday, May 24 at Accent Care at Macneal in Berwyn.

As of today, no one is in custody for the crime, according to Police News Affairs. The department has released a Community Bulletin with these images of a
2013-2018 maroon Ford Fusion driven by the offender. The vehicle from the crash may have damage to the front and hood

Those with information on the case are asked to call the Major Accidents Investigation Unit at 312-745-4521 or submit an anonymous tip at CPDTIP.com with the reference RD # JK251084.

Humboldt Park residents told ABC Chicago drivers often travel fast and recklessly on Franklin “[Motorists] don’t stop,” Angel Rodriguez said. “Pedestrians try to walk across the street, but there’s no help to help them across.”

“Lisa had become a good friend of mine over the past few years and was a member of my book club,” a friend of Barber’s named Katie told ABC in a statement. “We’re a group of about ten, and we’re all in shock over how suddenly this happened, how abruptly Lisa could be here one minute, so full of life, so hilarious, and making plans for the future – whether that was a trip or what our next book would be… Our book club is trying to channel our grief and anger into advocacy. We’re in the early stages of planning pedestrian safety advocacy near where the hit-and-run happened.”

According to a Sun-Times report, Barber worked as a hairdresser at Sine Qua Non Salons, 2038 W. Chicago Ave. in Ukrainian Village. On the day of her crash, she had gone to a friend’s fashion show and taken the ‘L’ home. She was walking back to her residence when the driver struck her. She fell off the car’s hood and her head hit the ground, police said.

Salon owner Laura Boton told the Sun-Times Barber was a talented hairdresser who was good at making her clients feel at ease. “She was just a bright light and a beautiful person.”

“When you spoke with her, you knew she was listening and knew she cared,” Barber’s friend Tara Lattanzi told the paper. “We could be ourselves with her.”

Read more about Barber’s life in the in-depth Sun-Times profile.

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

Pedestrian: 13

Bicycle or e-scooter: 5

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 Friday, March 13, at around 12:06 p.m., the left-turning driver of a large vehicle fatally struck a pedestrian in a crosswalk at 3960 W. 26th St. in Little Village.

• 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.

• On Sunday, April 19, at about 9:30 p.m., a hit-and-run pickup truck driver struck and killed Minerva Martinez, 65, in a crosswalk at Belmont and Central avenues in Belmont Cragin.

• On Monday, April 20, around 6 p.m., a semi-truck driver fatally struck Autumn Perez, 29, at 6341 S. Western Ave. in Chicago Lawn.

• On Saturday, May 2, around 2:40 a.m., after an argument, a driver fatally struck a man, 65, standing on the sidewalk on the 5000 block of S. Western Ave. in Gage Park, and then fled the scene.

• On Monday, May 11, the hit-and-run driver of a Maroon sedan struck and critically injured Lisa Barber, 45, on the 3100 block of West Franlin Boulevard in Humboldt Park. She died from her injuries on Monday, May 24.

• On Tuesday, May 12, Enrique Nieto was changing a flat car tire in the street on the 6800 block of South Pulaski Road when an SUV driver fatally struck him and fled the scene.

• On Thursday, May 14, a hit-and-run sedan driver fatally struck a man, 36, near 87th Street and Ashland Avenue in Auburn Gresham.

• On Saturday, May 23, around 5:15 p.m., a driver, 35, fatally struck Illeana Crisanto, 62, near Belmont and Kilbourn avenues, on the border of Irving Park and Hermosa.

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.

• On Friday, April 24, around 4:15 p.m., a Jeep driver struck and killed e-scooter rider Astrid Carrillo Noguera, 17, near 3340 S. King Dr. in the Douglas community.

• On Friday, June 5, around 4:40 p.m., a car driver opened their door on CDOT Planner Riley O’Neil, 35, causing him to clip the door and be thrown in front of a truck and fatally struck.

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