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Chicago crime: Teen driver charged in stolen car crash that killed 15-year-old girl, hurt 2 others

By Will Hager
Published  April 3, 2026 10:58am CDT
Marquette Park
FOX 32 Chicago

The Brief

    • A 16-year-old boy has been charged with reckless homicide after crashing a stolen car on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
    • The crash killed a 15-year-old girl and injured two other teenage passengers.
    • Police said the car was speeding without headlights before hitting a tree as officers attempted to follow it.

CHICAGO - A teenage boy has been charged in connection with a stolen car crash last month that left a 15-year-old passenger dead and injured two others on Chicago's Southwest Side.

What we know:

Officers were in the area of the 6900 block of South Hollet Drive in Marquette Park around 3:48 a.m. on March 9 when they reported seeing a Toyota Corolla speeding without its headlights on.

Police said officers turned on their emergency lights and tried to follow the car, but before they could catch up to it, the Toyota crashed into a tree.

The driver, a 16-year-old boy, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair condition. One of his passengers, a 15-year-old girl, was taken to Comer Children's Hospital where she later died. She was identified as Dreanna Jackson of Chicago by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Two other girls, 15 and 16, also sustained injuries in the crash and were taken to Comer Children's Hospital in good and serious condition, respectively.

Police later determined the Toyota had been reported stolen. The 16-year-old driver was arrested on Thursday and charged with reckless homicide with a motor vehicle.

The Source: The information in this report came from the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County medical examiner's office and previous Fox Chicago reporting.

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