The girl was hit late Wednesday night in the 1000-block of West 87th Street on Chicago's South Side. On Thursday, the 9-year-old was listed in critical condition at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Witnesses say the girl was walking with her mother across a marked crosswalk at the busy intersection of 87th and Aberdeen, which has no traffic signals at the corner. The intersection has no crossing signal. The child and her mom had apparently just eaten at a neighborhood burger stand before the hit-and-run.
Witness Damon Collins says he heard terrifying screams just before 9 p.m. Wednesday.
"Well, I was sitting there watching TV and then you heard some screams out there," Collins said. He rushed outside to find the 9-year-old girl trapped underneath a vehicle. The driver in that vehicle, witnesses say, backed up and then fled the scene.
"He backed up, he took off. But nobody was worried about the car. Everybody was worried about that little girl," Collins said. Witnesses and police say they believe the car involved in the hit-and-run was a dark-colored Honda or Hyundai.
Neighbors, like Cynthia Ward, say the 9-year-old loves to play outside with her sister.
"She's a nice little girl who plays -- I hear her and her sister playing in the back. I see their mom bringing them from school, at the end of the day, after her work day, and bringing them in the house. A very quiet, nice family," Ward said.
Besides the vehicle description, authorities have few other leads in the case. If you have any information, please contact Chicago police.
