4-Year-Old Girl Dies After Minivan Strikes West Ridge Chicago

A 4-year-old girl, identified by the Cook County medical examiner as Juslene Akeza (also reported as Azeka), died after being struck by a minivan while crossing North Talman Avenue in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood Wednesday evening. The crash occurred around 5:43–5:45 p.m. in the 6200 block of North Talman when a northbound minivan driven by a 72-year-old hit the child; she suffered blunt trauma, was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition and was later pronounced dead. Chicago police cited the driver for failure to exercise due care to avoid a pedestrian and for failure to reduce speed. The crash remains under investigation by authorities.