The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled the death of a 77-year-old Palatine woman struck by an automobile earlier in the week was accidental, according to a report released Saturday.
Jieru Chen, of the 400 block of East Baldwin in Palatine, died Thursday, a day after being sent to Northwest Community Hospital and later airlifted to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital with multiple injuries.
Just after noon on Wednesday, Palatine police responded to a call involving an elderly couple and an automobile at an apartment complex in the 400 block of Hicks Road.
The 42-year-old female driver of a 1998 Chevy Malibu told police she was backing out slowly, eastbound in a parking lot at that location, but did not see anyone or feel the car strike anything, according to a preliminary investigation.
When the driver looked to her left, she saw two elderly people lying on the ground outside her driver's door, one man and one woman. The 77-year-old man was attending to his wife while the driver called 911, according to a police report.
The medical examiner's office declined to provide further details and a Palatine police spokesman was unavailable Saturday.
