A girl is dead and her brother in critical condition after the car their father was driving, on their way to get home supplies for the school year, was struck by a driver in a police chase in Chicago on Wednesday.
The family was on its way to retrieve a laptop from Foster Park Elementary School in the city’s South Side for the girl’s remote learning when their car collided with a Black sedan. The sedan, which was fleeing police from a traffic stop, had first hit a 57-year-old woman driver prior to hitting the family, according to Chicago police.
Da’Karia Spicer, 10, was pronounced dead at Comer Children’s Hospital, where Dhaamir Spicer, 5, is being treated for his injuries. Their father Kevin Amir Spicer, 43, was reported to be in good condition after checking in at the University of Chicago Hospital, according to WLS-TV in the Midwestern metropolis.
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Three suspects vacated the sedan and fled on foot, and one is in custody with charges pending.
Kevin Spicer suffered broken ribs in the crash. Darnesha Johnson, his fiance and the children’s mother, says Spicer was “hysterical” when he called her about the crash.
“We’ve been together for almost 15 years and I’ve never heard him like that. He was saying, ‘Mama’s not responding,'” Johnson told the news outlet.
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Johnson said this was the “worst day of my life,” with her firstborn killed and son in critical condition.
“Never thought I’d get a call that my son is fighting for his life and my daughter is just gone.”
Johnson stated that Da’Karia was a straight-A student and a “good big sister.” She wants justice for those responsible for the tragedy.
“I just want who was ever responsible for this to pay for what they done, ’cause my daughter — to know her is to love her. I can’t even speak in past tense.”
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