Young mother dead after 2-car crash in Robbins

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - A head-on collision in Robbins killed a young mother and injured another man Friday afternoon, but the woman’s infant daughter survived. It happened around 4:00 PM on Pulaski Avenue, just south of 136th Street.

“It was just a big crash you know, it's metal hitting metal, it was loud and that was when my aunt, my sister-in-law next door, everybody started calling 9-1-1,” said Debra Foster, who heard the crash right outside her home.

It was a horrific crash that sent neighbors running out of their houses in shock.

“I'm like call the ambulance, call the ambulance, call the fire department, the car's on fire, the car's on fire,” said Quintiana Blake, who witnessed the accident.

And then everyone nearby sprang into action, trying to help in anyway they could, grabbing fire extinguishers and garden hoses.

“And so everybody was just trying to put the fire out, my sister in law she also had the hose because it could have blown up and blew up everybody, that was my most concern,” Foster said.

A witness said the woman driving a black Dodge Avenger was northbound on Pulaski when she tried to make a quick u-turn, but ended up smashing head-on into a silver Chevy Camero that was headed southbound.

But the preliminary indications from police suggest a slightly different scenario.

“The car lost control, the black Dodge Avenger, and apparently went across the lanes and struck the other vehicle that was going southbound on Pulaski,” said Roy Wells, Robbins Police Chief.

The fire department had to extricate the woman who later died. She has been identified as 26-year-old Janeka Monique Hicks of Robbins. Her infant daughter, who was in a car seat in back, appeared to be okay according to witnesses. But she and the driver of the other vehicle were taken to Christ Hospital.

Neighbors were horrified by what happened, but glad the cars didn't careen off the road and cause more injuries.

“It could have went through our house and if someone was walking on the sidewalk, someone else could have got hurt,” said witness Carolyn Porter.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the crash.