Ashley Sanchez is described as a gifted student athlete. Her family and friends gathered, still in disbelief, in Chicago's Hermosa neighborhood, where the crash took place, unable to make sense of her death.
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"It's been very difficult for the family. We are grieving and in a lot of pain. She was robbed from us for nonsense and stupidity," said her aunt Ivette Martinez.
Chicago police said a tan minivan traveling east in the 4500-block of Armitage Avenue just after 11:30 p.m. rear-ended a white Dodge Charger that was traveling in the same direction.
The rear end of the Charger hit the back of a parked semitrailer that was facing east on Armitage, killing the teen, who was in the back of the Charger, police said.
Family said it was an attempted bump-and-run carjacking that turned deadly when Ashley's dad lost control of their car.
"We miss her," Martinez said. "We're hurting. And we just want her back, and we know she's gone."
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While her family said yesterday that Ashley was a rising senior, they corrected themselves today, saying they misspoke. Ashley was a soon-to-be junior at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora. She was an athlete who loved the White Sox. Her parents were long-time season ticket holders and the three were headed home from a gamebefore the crash.
Relatives hope anyone with information will come forward.
"This was a hopeful young woman who had ideas of making the world a better place. And no one can know or have that opportunity to see what she did or could have done," said Martinez.
Ashley's parents were also hurt in the crash. Relatives say her mother is still in intensive care with serious head injuries.