Charges considered in fatal Schaumburg crash

Schaumburg police are still considering charges against the motorist whose passenger was killed when the car struck a tree Monday night.

Passenger Michael Q. Bell, 26, of the 100 block of White Branch Court in Schaumburg, was pronounced dead at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.

The driver, a 24-year-old Streamwood woman, was treated and released from Alexian Brothers after having to be extricated from the car.

She was in police custody late Tuesday while investigators determined whether any charges will be filed against her.

Police said she was driving a four-door 1997 Mercury Sable south on Braintree Drive when it left the road near Radcliffe Lane shortly before 9 p.m. Monday. The car continued to drive on the west parkway until the passenger side door struck a tree.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, police said.

Bell's mother, Nena Bell, is a minister at Destiny Church in Hoffman Estates. She declined comment Tuesday.

Michael Q. Bell had been sentenced in 2004 to three years in prison after convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault, armed robbery, kidnapping and aggravated battery.

Bell had been granted 487 days of credit for time spent in Cook County jail while awaiting trial.

He entered the Illinois Department of Corrections on Sept. 27, 2004, and was released on a one-year parole on Nov. 16, 2004, according to the department.