Woman Dies After Being Hit, Dragged by Car

Death officially ruled accidental

A teenage girl was fatally struck and dragged by a vehicle during a possible gang fight Saturday night on the Northwest Side.

Nakella Harper, 18, of Bellwood, was hit by the vehicle at 7111 W. Wabansia Ave., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.  Harper was at a party celebrating her graduation from Proviso West High School, where she had been a cheerleader and on the track and swimming teams, the Tribune reported. She had been slated to start classes Monday at Triton College in River Grove, her cousin told the paper.

Police responded at 10:59 p.m. to a battery in progress and found the woman pinned under a four-door Dodge car in the 1700 block of North Neva Avenue -- about a block from the Wabansia Avenue address, police News Affairs Officer Robert Perez said.

The woman was at a large party when a fight started in the street, police said.  She apparently ran into the street, but tripped and fell, and was struck and dragged by the car. 

She was initially taken in critical condition to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quention Curtis said. She was pronounced dead at 11:44 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

Police said the initial battery in progress call may have been for a gang fight.

A Sunday autopsy ruled Harper died of multiple injuries from the crash and ruled her death an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office.

The police Major Accident Investigation Unit questioned another teenage girl who was reportedly driving the vehicle that hit Harper.

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