Mom who lost daughter in crash on Chicago's DuSable Lake Shore Drive wants justice
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An eye-catching billboard on the city's West Side is aimed at getting justice for a Chicago woman who lost her only daughter.
Nearly six months ago, she was one of two people killed in a crash on DuSable Lake Shore Drive at 31st Street.
Many questions still remain about that crash along the Drive in the fall of last year. But the biggest one for the mother of 24-year-old victim Jaida Victoria Rosado Colon is why the driver who crossed all the lanes of traffic at the last minute to exit is only facing a traffic citation all these months later.
High above the West Humboldt Park neighborhood, a photo of Jaida appears on a billboard, flanked by the words: "Please think. Drive safely."
"Jaida was definitely a ray of sunshine," said her mother, Sandy Colon.
Ms. Colon hopes the billboard and its words will make every driver reflect.
"So people need to think while they're driving, because driving is a huge responsibility," she said.
On the evening of Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, Jaida was a passenger in a car with three others on the Drive. Police said a vehicle in the far left lane cut across traffic to exit at 31st Street.
The driver cut off the car in which Jaida and her friends were traveling. The car lost control, hit a tree, and burst into flames – killing Jaida and her friend, Jalean Ewing-Gibbs, also 24.
The surviving sisters were still recovering these several months later.
"Sophia does not walk, does not talk - completely bedridden," said Colon.
The driver stayed on the scene. Yet Colon cannot understand why he was never charged with a felony.
He is back in court again next Monday.
"I hope on April 1, the state has had enough time to come up with sufficient evidence that proves that the driver was negligent," said Colon.
Currently, the driver only faces a traffic citation for improper lane changes.
"What happened to her was wrong - not because she's my child. It's wrong," said Colon, "and it can't be brushed under the rug."
The case is still under investigation, and no word has been released on blood test results for the driver. But he did refuse a test on scene, and because he was not facing a felony, he was not arrested.
Until Colon sees what she considers accountability or justice, she will keep the billboard, and her daughter's case, in everyone's face.
"As long as I'm living, I'm going do my best to honor her and to fight," said Colon.
She hopes maybe the next driver will do what the sign says.
"Everyone behind the wheel needs to think at all times what they're doing, because in a split second, someone's life could be lost," Colon said.
CBS 2 is not naming the driver involved, as he is only facing the traffic citation. The Cook County State's Attorney's office has continued the case twice since November.
A legal expert told CBS 2 the state has up to three years to upgrade charges in this case.