Three dead in two-vehicle accident on Bishop Ford
Two men and a woman died this morning when an SUV hit their stopped car in the center lane on the southbound side of the Bishop Ford Expressway, according to the Illinois State Police.
The incident occurred about 3:10 a.m. on Int. Hwy. 94 at about 130th Street, according to state police. A 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier with three people inside was stopped in the center lane with its lights off when it was rear-ended by a 2003 Toyota Highlander SUV, according to Illinois State Police District Chicago Master Sgt. Mike Witt.
The Cavalier, which was severely damaged, ended up on the left shoulder with the front end facing back toward the middle of the expressway, Witt said, and all three passengers in that vehicle died.
The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the three as Latoya Williams, 34, and Derrick Young, 19, both of the 11600 block of South Princeton Avenue in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side, and Jermaine Garner, 27, of the 0-100 block of 158th Place in Calumet City.
Williams was not a wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car, Witt said. Young, Williams' son, was driving the car, and Garner was a passenger in the back seat.
All three were transported to Roseland Community Hospital, where they were pronounced dead at 4:15 a.m., Witt said.
Witt said he did not know why the Cavalier was stopped in the middle of the road with its lights off. He also did not know where the three people in the Cavalier had been or were headed before the accident.
The Toyota Highlander involved in the crash ended up on the right shoulder of the highway, and the driver, a 64-year-old man, was not injured, Witt said. He was not cited in the crash, Witt said, and there was "no indication" that alcohol was a factor in the accident.
All lanes on the road were blocked and traffic diverted until about 8:25 a.m., Witt said.
Witt said the investigation would continue, including a full reconstruction of what happened.
"I don't know if we'll ever know why they were stopped in the center lane," he said. "but we'll attempt to determine (why)."
