6-year-old girl, two drivers killed in Ford Heights crash ID'd, authorities say

FORD HEIGHTS, Ill. (WLS) -- Three people died, including a young girl, after a crash involving multiple vehicles Wednesday evening in the south suburbs.

Another young girl was injured in the crash.

The crash happened around 7:55 p.m. in the 800 block East Lincoln Highway in Ford Heights, the Cook County Sheriff's Department said.

A Chrysler vehicle was driving eastbound on Lincoln highway when it hit a Nissan vehicle, police said. Footage from a nearby security camera showed the aftermath of the crash.

The driver of the Chrysler was pronounced dead at the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as 50-year-old Demetri T. Bell of Merrillville, Indiana. Friends said he was on his way home from work at the time of the crash.

The driver of the Nissan and a young girl, who was a passenger in the vehicle, were pronounced dead at local hospitals. Another passenger in the Nissan, a 4-year-old girl, was injured in the crash, police said. She is recovering at a hospital. The driver was the mother of the two girls, relatives told ABC7.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified the driver as 26-year-old Kimberly Taylor. The Lake County Indiana Coroner's Officer identified the passenger as 6-year-old Kimbella Tolliver. Both lived in Calumet City.

Kimbella died at a hospital in Dyer, Indiana, which is just over the state border near Ford Heights.

Witnesses told ABC7 the crash was horrific. As the investigation continues, two grief-stricken families hope for answers.

Katoyah Roberts shared her grief just days after learning her sister, Taylor, and 6-year-old niece, Tolliver, were killed in the car crash.

"I really can't describe what we're feeling like... it's like unimaginable pain," Robert said. "She was just the life of the party. She was an outgoing person. One thing I cannot forget to mention is she loved her girls."

Taylor's family said the unthinkable happened Wednesday night as she left her partner's home, heading back to the Calumet City house she shared with her young daughters.

"She just wanted to provide a good life for her girls," Roberts said. "She was all about her girls. She was very family oriented. She was a fun loving person. Everyone loved her. She was just everything."

As the family struggles with such an incredible loss, Taylor is being remembered as a loving person and a dedicated mom who was hoping the restart her education so she could become an attorney.

"This is one of the worst things I've ever endured. We lost our mom November 1st, 2019, we just lost our nephew last year, so there's just so much we're still healing from... now this," Roberts said.

Relatives are still finalizing funeral arrangements for Taylor and her daughter. They have set up a GoFundPage to help with that.

Investigators from the Cook County Sheriff's Department continue to investigate the crash.

No further information was immediately available.