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Tire Flies Through Church Window After Fatal Crash; Driver Charged With DUI

By Erica Demarest | September 13, 2017 2:32pm | Updated on September 13, 2017 5:42pm
 Jayalim Ford, 19, is charged with aggravated DUI causing death.
Jayalim Ford, 19, is charged with aggravated DUI causing death.
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Facebook; Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A driver who caused a fatal crash outside Holy Family Catholic Church on Monday was going nearly 90 mph after drinking wine and smoking marijuana, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Jayalim Ford, 19, is charged with aggravated DUI causing death after reportedly losing control of her 2005 Nissan Altima and slamming into a concrete median planter in the 1000 block of West Roosevelt Road about 2:30 a.m. Monday.

The car went airborne, prosecutors said, and landed upside down.

A rear wheel was sent flying nearly 15 feet into the air before crashing through a church window at the historic Holy Family Catholic Church, 1080 W. Roosevelt Rd. (SEE VIDEO BELOW)

The one-car crash killed passenger Eugena Walker, 18, who was ejected from the backseat and landed on a concrete median, Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Carlson said during a bond hearing Wednesday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2650 S. California Ave.

An 18-year-old man who'd been sitting in the front passenger seat has a spine broken in four places as a result of the crash, prosecutors said. He is expected to survive.

Assistant Public Defender Brett Balmer said Ford also suffered numerous injuries, including broken ribs.

Prosecutors allege Ford and the male victim were drinking wine at Ford's home in the 2300 block of West Washington Boulevard late Sunday and early Monday. The duo left in Ford's Altima to pick up Walker near Roosevelt Road and Halsted Street sometime before 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

A witness then saw Ford speeding eastbound along Roosevelt, ignoring multiple "traffic control devices," Carlson said.

Based on forensic evidence, police believe Ford was driving 76 to 88 mph before the crash, according to prosecutors. After striking the median, Carlson said, Ford's car went airborne, flipped over and landed upside down in Roosevelt's westbound lanes.

Police said Ford admitted to drinking wine before driving.

Cook County Judge James Brown on Wednesday set bail at $500,000.