Natalia Chi
An 18-year-old driver who was hit by a car Tuesday night, killing a 78-year-old woman and injuring six relatives, was charged Thursday morning with reckless murder, Chicago police said.
Krell Oakley of the Westridge neighborhood has been charged with three counts of reckless homicide and aggravated reckless driving causing bodily harm, police said. Police said he also turned himself in for a right-of-way violation at an intersection.
[ Driver in accident that left a woman dead, six relatives injured says brakes failed during North Park wreck: police ]
Oakley was arrested around 10:45 pm Tuesday at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he went for back and neck pain. Hours earlier, Oakley did not give way to a 2023 Kia Sorento heading south at the intersection of Peterson and Kimball streets in the North Park neighborhood, police said.
His Saturn sedan swept a Kia SUV carrying seven people from Highland, Indiana, and headed east through Peterson.
Officials say the Saturn hit the driver’s side of the Kia car and flipped over. According to police reports, Oakley told police that his brakes had failed.
Kia passenger Zainab Subor, 78, was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was pronounced dead at 8:40 p.m., according to the Cook County coroner’s office and police. Six relatives, including two children, were also injured, police said.
Oakley is scheduled to appear at a bail hearing on Thursday.
