Dozens of voices were raised in prayer Wednesday night outside the Southwest Side home of a woman and child killed hours earlier in a car accident.
Led by Chicago Ald. Shirley Coleman (16th), about 50 people gathered at Coleman’s church, Spiritual Wholistic Ministries Church of Love and Faith, and walked two blocks to the house on South Wood Street.
From there they moved in silence, treading across debris left from the accident in the 4900 block of South Wood.
With red candles and a stuffed teddy bear, they marked the spot where police say a 1988 BMW carrying three people ran a stop sign, caromed off a 1994 Buick Century and then hit the woman and two girls about 2 p.m. Wednesday as they crossed the street.
Police said they could not confirm how the victims were related but a family friend at the vigil said the girls were cousins.
Police said the BMW’s driver tried to run away but was caught and arrested shortly after the accident. He was in custody Wednesday night but has not been charged, officials said.
The two girls were taken to the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, where Anais Ramirez, 6, was pronounced dead, officials said. The second child was listed in serious condition Wednesday night.
Officials said the woman, Garciega Moreno, 52, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital.
Three other people involved in the accident suffered less-severe injuries, officials said.
Two of them were taken in fair-to-serious condition to Holy Cross Hospital and the third was taken to Stroger in fair condition, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Richard Rosado.
Mirial Saez, 37, who lives nearby and knows the victims’ family attended the vigil. She said the two cousins were “angels” and that their family was reeling from grief.
More Top Picks Best Mechanical Keyboards For Typing
Lizett Bautista, 25, called the accident “pretty devastating.”
“It’s hard to even imagine, and it could have happened to anyone,” she said.
Some witnesses said that a police vehicle was pursuing the BMW when the accident occurred.
“I heard about 10 people say [there was a police chase]. We’re trying to track it down,” Coleman said.
Francisco Moreno, 49, said a police officer was in a vehicle pursuing the BMW. He said he saw one car chasing another, then heard a crash that sounded like “huge oil drums” smashing together.
Moments later, as he left his house, he saw what he thought was a plainclothes officer get out of one of the cars and arrest a suspect.
Chicago police said there was no police pursuit.
“A tactical unit was already in the area and responded to the call,” said police spokeswoman Monique Bond. “More than likely, they heard it over the air and responded.”
———-