Motorist Fatally Strikes 40-Year-Old Woman On Southwest Side

CHICAGO — Authorities said a woman died after she was run over by a speeding driver Sunday morning on the Southwest Side.

Shawman Meireis, 40, was in a crosswalk in the 6400 block of South Cicero Avenue around 1:30 a.m. when she was struck by a car driven by a 27-year-old man, according to Chicago police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

The motorist, who was issued citations for failure to exercise due care with a pedestrian in the roadway and having an obstructed front windshield, struck another speeding car driven by a 19-year-old woman while changing lanes, police said.

Meireis was taken to Christ Hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after 2 a.m.. The medical examiner's office scheduled an autopsy for Monday.

Police said the major accidents unit is investigating the circumstances of the crash, which may be linked to multiple incidents of speeding and spinning car stunts known as "takeovers" or "sideshows," where drivers drift in circles surrounded by crowds of pedestrians.

According to police, six police squad cars were damaged, seven cars were impounded and nine people were arrested during the night at such events late Saturday into early Sunday, one of which reportedly took place at 47th Street and South Cicero Avenue, about two miles north of the site of the fatal crash.

A witness who was driving behind the two cars told the Chicago Sun-Times it looked as if two Corvettes were drag racing south from 63rd Street before one of them hit the pedestrian. After the crash, a man who appeared to be with the victim pulled the driver of one of the crashed car and "legit threw him" into a pole.

The witness said he overheard the boyfriend of Meireis say that the couple was on vacation in Chicago and had attended the Sacred Rose music festival in Bridgeview on Saturday night, the Sun-Times reported. Meireis had been due to celebrate her 41st birthday Monday.