Police: Aurora man faces charges in accident that killed girl, 9
Charges are pending against a 25-year-old Aurora man in connection with an apparent DUI crash at about 9:10 p.m. Friday night that claimed the life of a nine-year-old girl who was riding in another vehicle, Aurora police said Saturday morning in a news release. Two other children were injured.
Police gave this account:
The child who died was a passenger in a 2009 Toyota Sienna minivan that was northbound on Broadway Avenue just south of Pierce Street in the downtown area when a southbound 2003 Cadillac Deville drifted into the northbound lanes.
The driver of the minivan, the child's 40-year-old mother, tried to avoid colliding with the Cadillac by making a sharp turn to the left, but the car hit the minivan on its passenger side where the child was sitting, and the minivan then hit a building on the west side of Broadway.
The driver of the car ran away but was taken into custody without incident a short distance away near the High Street Bridge that crosses the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks with help from witnesses who gave police descriptions of the suspect.
Police said he displayed signs of intoxication.
Aurora Fire Department paramedics took the child and two other girls, ages 10 and 12, to Presence Mercy Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 9:44 p.m. The other two children, who also were riding in the minivan, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. The nine-year old's mother refused medical treatment. The 25-year-old man was taken to Rush Copley Medical Center for injuries that were not life-threatening.
The victim and her mother are Aurora residents; the other two children live in Batavia.
The investigation is in its preliminary stages and is being handled by the Aurora Police Traffic Division, police said.