April 29--A 23-year-old Chicago man was ordered held Wednesday on $250,000 bail after being charged in an accident Sunday that left a female pedestrian dead, police said.
George R. Evans, of the 9700 block of South Green Street, was charged with one count of reckless homicide, and also cited for failure to reduce speed, failing to give a pedestrian the right of way in a crosswalk and disobeying a stop sign.
The accident happened in the 8700 block of South Lafayette Avenue about 10 p.m. Sunday, police said.
In court, prosecutors said Evans was driving a rented Volkswagen with a cousin and his cousin's young children.
About 9:30 p.m., they were at a gas station at 79th and State streets when one of the children woke up and said she had to go to the bathroom. Evans, who was driving, told his passengers that he would get them home, prosecutors said.
Evans drove onto the Dan Ryan Expressway and exited at 87th Street, traveling south on Lafayette Avenue, prosecutors said. At the intersection, Evans drove through a red light, traveling 80 to 90 mph, according to a witness and a red light camera.
While traveling through the intersection, Evans struck the pedestrian, who was in the crosswalk and had the right of way, a witness said, according to prosecutors.
After being struck, the woman shattered the windshield of the car and was thrown about 100 feet. She died of her injuries, prosecutors said.
After the crash, Evans stopped the car and exited. According to a witness, Evans was on the phone when he got out of the car and "was observed by a witness to be on the phone laughing as he stood over the victim's body."
The man was heard saying that he had been in a crash a week earlier, prosecutors said.
According to the Cook County medical examiner's office, the woman, who was in her early 20s, remained unidentified as of Wednesday, prosecutors said.
Evans and a 24-year-old female passenger were taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital, said Officer Hector Alfaro, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
