Honor Student Was Drunk, Stoned At Time Of Fatal Wreck
UPDATED 07/07/11 2:05 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cook County prosecutors said Monday that a 16-year-old honor student was drunk on vodka and high on ecstasy and marijuana when he stole an SUV, fled from a traffic stop and then crashed into the car of a 911 dispatcher, killing her on Sunday.
Marquis Harrison was charged as an adult with one count of first-degree murder, one felony count of burglary, a misdemeanor of driving under the influence, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's office. Bond was set at $1 million Monday afternoon at a hearing at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse.
Killed in the crash was Marciea Adkins, 42, a 911 dispatcher at the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Regine Schlesinger reports
Podcast
Prosecutors said Harrison had vodka, ecstasy and marijuana in his system at the time of the crash. His blood alcohol level was measured at .186, more than twice the legal limit.
Harrison is a sophomore at Urban Prep Academy in East Garfield Park, where he is an honor roll student and a member of the football and basketball teams, according to his public defender. He is due back in court on Aug. 1.
He was also ticketed for disobeying a red traffic light and for failing to stop at a stop sign, police said.
Prosecutors said he stole a Range Rover on Michigan Avenue on Sunday, after the 45-year-old owner of the SUV left the vehicle running while he fed a parking meter box.
As the officers were exiting their vehicle, Harrison allegedly backed up toward the officers and then struck the vehicle of a police supervisor who was on the scene.
The Range Rover fled the scene and officers gave chase. The SUV ran a stop sign while driving north on Hoyne Avenue, then struck Adkins' car at the intersection of Hoyne and Armitage avenues. The SUV then hit a parked car and Harrison fled the scene on foot, but was arrested a short time later.
Adkins was driving home from a night shift at OEMC at the time. The Range Rover hit the driver's side of her sedan, causing severe damage.
Even the weighty Range Rover that slammed into Adkins' car was also reduced to pieces.
Adkins worked as a 911 dispatcher for the city of Chicago since December 1996. She was returning home from the overnight shift at the Office of Emergency Management and Communications when the Range Rover slammed into her car.
Chicago police officers were standing guard outside her grieving family's home late Sunday afternoon. In a statement OEMC Executive Director Gary Schenkel said that, "according to her coworkers and supervisors, she was the nicest, most positive person you would ever want to meet."
