Friday, May 22, 2009

Children will sneak out; I know. My son was 14- 15 when he snuck out and took my truck without my knowledge and went on a joy ride. The only reason I found out was because he backed the car back into the garage and ended up busting out the back window and hitting the back wall of the garage.

Still, this situation is disturbing. Who was the driver? Were they drunk? I don't believe the driver intended to hit the kid, but still what was the kid doing out so late?

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CHICAGO - A 13-year-old boy was struck and killed early today by a speeding car that kept on going for blocks before finally stopping, officials and witnesses say.

Trenton Booker was riding his bike with a friend in the 8100 block of North Ashland around 1:30 a.m. when he was struck by a black Dodge Charger that was speeding south, according to officials and witnesses.

Brian D. Jackson and a friend said they were among a group of people standing outside a night club near the intersection of 81st and Ashland. The boy was riding his bike south down the second lane from the curb when a black Dodge Charger came up from behind at high speed, striking the boy near the intersection.

"The car never slowed down," Jackson said. "He didn't even have a chance to hit the brakes."

The collision threw the boy into the air, flipping him over several times before he hit the ground in front of a gas station more than 50 feet away, the witnesses said. Another young boy was riding his bike alongside Booker, they said, but he fled after the accident.

The driver continued south, swerving and still driving at high speed, as a crowd gathered around the boy's body, they said. The boy appeared to be dead upon impact, Jackson said.

A couple cars in the northbound lanes of Ashland turned around and tried to pursue the Charger, Jackson said.

Another witness, who declined to be named, said the stoplight had turned red before the accident occurred.

At Booker's house, about a mile from the collision, a steady stream of relatives brought food and condolences to the boy's mother, Barbara Norman, who greeted each person on her front steps wiping tears from her eyes this afternoon.

In the home's front yard, Trenton's father, Terrence Booker, struggled to describe what his only son looked like at the hospital after the crash.

"That car tore him to pieces," Booker said. "He was dead when he hit the ground."

Booker's mother last saw her son about 10 p.m. yesterday, Terrence Booker said, when he went to bed at his usual time, looking forward to a full Memorial Day weekend.

But sometime during the night, the teen snuck from his home and met up with two friends to ride their bikes, his father said. Norman didn't realize he was gone until early this morning, when police officers knocked on her door and told her the terrible news.

"He was supposed to be in the house," Booker said. "Where he was going, we have no idea."

Trenton was an 8th-grader at Cuffe Math, Science and Technology Academy, which can be seen from the front steps of his mother's home. His 8th grade graduation was scheduled for June 19, his father said.

Booker said the boy's family, which includes five sisters, was hungry for news about who had been driving the car that struck the teen, having heard only scant details from police. But anger flared in his eyes as he talked about how the driver left the scene.

"He's a scumbag," Booker said. "To blow through a light that fast and kill him on impact before he hit the ground and you keep going? You're not scared you're just trying to get out of a situation."

Trenton was pronounced dead at 1:41 a.m. at Holy Cross Hospital, officials said.

3 comments:

Rudy said...

Curfew laws exist to prevent this. :(

Generally speaking, today's kids have way too much free time and way too much non-supervision.
When I was their age, if I was up past 10 PM, I was 1) finishing up homework, 2) finishing up chores, 3) getting ready for tomorrow and 4) shoveling snow.

Arlene Jones said...

This issue here is that the child snuck out of the house. Something many of us did as children. And being hit by a car is an accident.

Sadly what many of us don't want to accept is that it was Trenton's time to go.

Rudy said...

I agree kids sneaking out is an issue, but that's why curfew laws exist. I suspect the cop or lawyer(s) will say "everyone speeds...everyone drinks...everyone flees". :(