A 17-year-old driver faces a reckless homicide charge after trying to “go airborne” over a hill in Hickory Hills and smashing into a tree, killing four teenage passengers, police say.
The car split in half after striking the tree around 2:25 p.m. Saturday at 89th Street and 86th Avenue, Hickory Hills police said in a statement.
“The vehicle, a 2008 Mercedes SUV, was traveling [eastbound on] 89th Street at an extremely high rate of speed, in what we believe was an attempt to go airborne over the crest of the hill at 86th Avenue,” police said in the statement.
Two victims were transported to Christ Medical Center and pronounced dead: Destiny M. Giera, 16, and Jemerrio X. Rieves, 15, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Omarion Rieves and Nathaniel Phillips, both 17, died at the scene.
They all lived in suburban Justice, officials said.
The driver and another passenger were taken to hospitals and later released, police said.
The 17-year-old driver, whose name wasn’t released because of the age, was charged with reckless homicide and traffic citations.
The crash remained under investigation by Hickory Hills police and the Suburban Major Accident Reconstruction Team.
