The mother of an 11-year-old girl in the hospital with severe head injuries on Monday made a public plea to help catch the driver who plowed into her and three children on the city's South Side and then drove off.
"It's been awful. I've never been through anything like this in my life and I just pray that my daughter is OK," said 35-year-old Darlene Williams, who has a broken leg and nose following the Saturday evening incident.
The crash happened about 5 p.m. in the 6200 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue when a stolen 1999 Chrysler 300 struck the group, then hit a parked car and a brick wall.
A 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy are listed in stable condition at Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. Williams' daughter, 11-year-old Makayla Newell, was the most-seriously injured. She's listed in critical condition at Comer with a collapsed lung, bleeding around her brain and a fractured skull.
"I was trying to pull my body to my baby because I could see her but I couldn't get to her," Williams recalled Monday.
The vehicle involved was reported stolen from the 5800 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, and had likely been taken sometime between Aug. 29 and Aug. 30, police said.
Several people ran from the car after it crashed.
"They jumped right out, and I'm screaming because there's people on the street, and I'm screaming 'Get them! Get them!' and they're just running and no one even tried to stop them," said Williams. "I can't believe that someone would just do something like that and take off and leave and not even care."
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call police at 312-745-4521.
