Family of Chicago baby killed in stolen car crash slams charges
The family of a 6-month-old Chicago baby who was killed when two teenagers allegedly crashed a stolen car has ripped authorities for only charging the boys with misdemeanors.
Baby Cristian Uvidia’s aunt Annelisse Rivera blasted Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and other officials involved in the probe, calling the charges a “slap on the wrist.”
“I want to know how you [Foxx] sleep at night, seeing my nephew’s picture on the screen, how you can see his face and think that his life meant absolutely nothing,” Rivera told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday.
“You’re putting salt on our wounds. You’re not bringing us justice, and even if you do something, we will never get our baby back. Ever. There is no true justice,” she said.
The suspects, ages 14 and 17, were each charged with a single misdemeanor count of criminal trespassing in the April 16 crash in the Windy City’s West Garfield Park neighborhood.
They were driving a stolen Hyundai when they crashed into a pickup truck at West Washington Boulevard and North Kostner Avenue shortly after 5 p.m., hitting 6-month-old Cristian.
His 34-year-old mom and two sisters, ages 7 and 15, were injured, but he died at Stroger Hospital.
“This is absolutely something that I don’t wish upon my worst enemy, truthfully … it’s not a matter of if this is going to happen to another child, it’s when. This is a daily occurrence in Chicago,” Rivera said.
“It’s really truthfully just the biggest slap on the wrist, but a slap in the face to us completely,” she said. “I don’t know if the people who put these charges on them have kids, but I think anybody, even without children, can understand that this is wrong.”
Local resident Shawn Walker’s surveillance camera caught the horrific crash on video.
“The baby wasn’t breathing, so we started doing CPR,” Walker told Fox 32 Chicago. “My main thing was so we could get a pulse back into the baby.”
On Tuesday, Rivera accused the prosecutor of having as much “blood on her hands” as the two suspects.
“It’s been a week. We have not been contacted by either the police or the DA from what I have understanding of,” Rivera said on “Fox & Friends.” “It’s really, really disappointing, and it just doesn’t make any sense … There’s not even justice for the person whose car they stole. Criminal trespassing? What, did they trespass into the car? It makes absolutely no sense.”
Charges against the teens could be upgraded after the investigation is completed.
The deadly crash was just one recent instance of juveniles becoming involved in criminal activity in Chicago.
A recent “Teen Takeover” created chaos in the city as hundreds of teens mobbed Chicago streets and clashed with cops there.