Feb. 29--A driver in a fatal hit-and-run did not slow down before striking a man crossing a street in Avondale last week, throwing him into the air and onto the hood of the white SUV, prosecutors said Monday.
When police caught up with Felix Fajardo, 33, they found the SUV parked outside his home with damage to a headlight and the hood, along with blood, prosecutors said during a bond hearing. Fajardo was ordered held in lieu of 100,000 bail.
He is accused of hitting 34-year-old Christopher Sanchez around 5:20 a.m. Feb. 21 near the intersection of Milwaukee and Belmont avenues, police said. Speed camera video shows Fajardo driving through a green light at the intersection as Sanchez stepped into Milwaukee to cross the street, according to prosecutors.
The right side of the SUV struck Sanchez, prosecutors said. "Video shows that (Fajardo's) vehicle does not change speed at any time immediately before or after the collision," prosecutors stated in a court document.
When police approached Fajardo, he admitted that he had hit a pedestrian, prosecutors said.
Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil asked the prosecutor, Assistant State's Attorney Karisa Flores, how fast the SUV was traveling through the green light. Flores said she didn't know.
Fajardo's attorney said he is a single parent of two children and has lived in the Chicago area for more than 20 years. Fajardo is a Honduran national and asked that the Honduran embassy here be notified of his arrest.
The judge ordered that if he makes bail, he must turn over his passport.
Sanchez lived with his father nearly a mile away in the 3100 block of North Sawyer Avenue, where he had lived since he was 5 years old. He worked as a mechanic at a local Chevrolet dealership, and had planned to attend the Chicago Auto Show with his brother.
News of the arrest spread quickly among Sanchez's family and friends, including his cousin Mimi Osoria.
"They are happy about it, but it's not (bringing) my cousin back," Osoria said Sunday night. "We wanted the person caught and held responsible for what he did, but I feel like maybe if he had stopped to help my cousin, called 911 or something, maybe he could have saved him. ... I feel like he just left him there to die."
Relatives aren't sure why Sanchez had been out walking so early, but Cartage said he was known to go out for walks at odd hours because he began suffering from insomnia after his mother died of cancer in March.
"We miss our cousin very much and we know he is with (his mother) now in heaven," Osoria said.
