CHICAGO — On Friday, 11-year-old Donovan Turnage received a sweatshirt as a gift from his school for his "improved behavior."
"[My teacher] said I'm really growing up," Donovan told his mother, Annette Turnage over the phone after receiving the award.
"He was really proud of that sweatshirt," Annette said.
On Saturday, Donovan was wearing the sweatshirt on his way to get a Christmas haircut, a family tradition, when a stolen van slammed into the left side of the family's Suburban, hitting near the gas tank, and ejecting Donovan from the back seat. Donovan was killed in the accident.
"It hit our car so hard," said another brother who was in the vehicle, Derrick Turnage, 20. "Like it was going 100 miles an hour."
A man accused of a series of carjackings over the weekend, including one that ended in the crash that killed Donovan, was arrested Tuesday morning in Milwaukee, authorities said.
Rockie Douglas, 34, was arrested in the drive-through of a Milwaukee McDonald's late Tuesday morning, where he was in a blue Honda Accord with a female passenger, said Ed Farrell, a supervisory inspector with the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Douglas will appear in court in Milwaukee before he can be extradited back to Chicago, Farrell said.
Police said Douglas' spree began Friday morning, when he allegedly carjacked a van in the 800 block of West Irving Park Road in Buena Park.
Then, around noon on Saturday, officers saw the van on the South Side and attempted to pull it over. But Douglas sped away, ultimately crashing into the Chevrolet Suburban in which Donovan was a passenger in the intersection of 55th and Halsted streets.
Derrick Turnage said he looked down for a moment in the front seat before seeing the green van speeding their way as his father, who was driving, prepared to cross the intersection. The family's SUV spun five times before coming to rest against a bus stop, he said.
Douglas, of suburban Beach Park, is suspected in a total of three carjackings last weekend, as well as a number of robberies and other crimes in Chicago and Wisconsin, police said.
One of those carjackings was of the blue Honda Accord that he was driving at the time of his arrest, authorities said.
On Monday, a memorial service was held at Donovan's school, the Morrill Math & Science School, 6011 S. Rockwell St. He was remembered as a boy "who made everyone smile."
The school also gave the family identical sweatshirts to the one Donovan was wearing during the fatal crash.
"When he made an accomplishment, he was excited and let everyone know," said Rev. Anibal Vega, Donovan's uncle. "And when he got a bad grade, he would say what he do to improve it."
Tuesday afternoon, Annette wore the grey sweatshirt bearing the school's eagle logo in the middle of the chest as family members cleaned the house and prepared for Christmas dinner. During their preparations, a Christmas tree fell from its resting place against the wall in the front room of their home, in the 5900 block of South Artesian Avenue.
"Donovan did that," Vega joked with Annette.
"Leave that alone, Donovan," Annette shot back with a soft laugh before admitting the family had to watch everything around the tree during Christmas time.
"He would unwrap a present then rewrap it like it never happened," she said.
