Driver hits, kills Wheeling pedestrian

A 43-year-old woman from Wheeling was struck and killed Friday morning as she was crossing Old McHenry Road.

Police said the woman, identified as Martha Garcia of Wheeling by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, was in the road at about 5 a.m. on the 200 block of Old McHenry Road when the southbound car struck her.

Wheeling Deputy Chief Bill Benson said she was crossing from the Chelsea Cove condominium building to the Creekside Shopping Center, but he said police are not sure yet where she was going.

Garcia was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and pronounced dead at 5:49 a.m.

Benson said the case is still under investigation, but there are no indications so far that the driver was driving erratically or under the influence of alcohol. The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team is helping with the investigation.

"The driver stopped and called the police," he said. "That stretch of road is pretty dark."

If charges are filed against the driver, Benson said that information will be released at a later date.

The medical examiner's office expects to determine Garcia's cause of death on Saturday.