A vigil was held Wednesday night to honor the memory of a 35-year-old woman was struck and killed in a hit-and-run crash, just one of several violent crimes that have left three women dead in recent days.
Angel Thomas was getting into her car in the 4300 block of West Jackson at approximately 8:10 p.m. on Saturday when a dark-colored SUV struck and killed her, according to Chicago police.
Surveillance footage at the scene shows the SUV slow down, and then speed away from the crash site.
On Wednesday, Thomas’ family gathered to honor her memory, and to call for the person responsible for her death to come forward.
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“We’re here because we want justice for an angel,” her sister Theresa Dorsey said. “We want the people who did this to come forward.”
Thomas’ mother and aunt were also at the vigil.
“That’s my daughter, my oldest daughter, and she’s gonna be truly missed,” Theresa Jefferson said.
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Thomas’ death was one of several tragic incidents that have taken place in the Chicago area in recent days. Early Friday morning, hairstylist Tamiko Talbert was driving and looking for a parking spot in the 7100 block of South Artesian when a dark-colored SUV pulled up alongside her vehicle, and a person in the back of the vehicle fired shots, striking her in the head.
Talbert was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where she later died.
Derick Patrick, who was pregnant with her second child, was sitting in her car on Jan. 12 in the 7400 block of South Vincennes when two men walked up to the vehicle and opened fire, striking her multiple times.
She was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was at the vigil honoring Thomas on Wednesday, and said that the county’s Justice Advisory Council is aiming to combat violence through investments in the community, promising an additional $30 million to groups that are fighting against disinvestment and marginalization.
“Cook County saw over 1,000 homicides last year, and 23% of those were women,” she said. “That’s double the previous year. The daily shootings and homicides cannot be the new normal. This has to stop.”
Preckwinkle says that the council’s aim is to reverse long-standing disinvestment in the most violent neighborhoods in the county, with the hopes of reversing those recent upward trends in crime.
