Girl, 5, Dies After Being Struck In West Side Hit-And-Run
UPDATED 07/03/12 11:47 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 5-year-old girl was following her sister across the street on the city's West Side, when a hit-and-run driver slammed into her and took her life.
Now, as CBS 2's Susanna Song reports, the search is on for the driver, who apparently knew exactly what happened and drove off anyway.
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The crash happened at 7:54 p.m. Monday in the 1500 block of South Millard Avenue, in the North Lawndale neighborhood, where Monet Robinson was visiting her uncle. Monet Robinson was crossing the street when a car described as a green four-door Pontiac struck her.
"She was following after her sisters, running across the street, and the car, he came past, and hit her," said witness Kiara Gayden. "She flew all the way down there. So everybody just was screaming."
Gayden was with the girls at the time. She said she was angry about the deadly crash, especially because she believes the driver knew he hit Monet.
"As he hit her, he looked out the window, and saw her, and she was on the ground," Gayden said.
Monet visited her uncle and mother in North Lawndale two or three times a week. She had been living with her grandmother in another neighborhood.
Neighbors living on Millard Avenue say they have seen an influx of children in the area, and speeding cars have concerned them.
"All I know is this is the only block that don't have a speed bump in the immediate area, and the kids have regenerated tremendously over the past three years, and we have to look out for them," said neighbor Patricia Hayes. "I mean, that's just a terrible thing to know a 5-year-old was killed in front of your house."
Hayes says she contacted her City Council representative, Ald. Michael Chandler (24th) just last week, and was told speed bumps cost money that the city doesn't have.
"It seems like it takes something to happen for progress to be made," she said.
For his part, Chandler says he will give $1000 of his own money as reward money to find hit and run driver.
He says money was approved last year to put a speed bump on the street during this construction season.
The driver is described only as an African-American man in his 20s. His green four-door Grand Am was described as having extensive damage on the passenger side.
Police are urging the offending driver to turn himself in, or if anyone knows something about this, to call.
