A memorial was organized Wednesday night to remember a 35-year-old woman who was murdered in a hit-and-run accident, one of the numerous violent acts that have killed three women in recent days.
Angel Thomas was getting into her vehicle in the 4300 block of West Jackson at 8:10 p.m. on Saturday when she was hit and killed by a dark-colored SUV, according to Chicago police.
Surveillance video from the incident shows the SUV slowing down and then speeding away from the collision site.
Thomas’ family gathered on Wednesday to celebrate her memory and to beg for the person responsible for her death to come forward.
“We’re here to seek justice for an angel,” her sister Theresa Dorsey said. “We want the perpetrators to come forward.”
Thomas’ mother and aunt were also in attendance for the vigil.
“That’s my eldest daughter, and she’ll be sorely missed,” Theresa Jefferson said.
Thomas’ death was one of the numerous unfortunate instances that occurred in the Chicago region recently. Tamiko Talbert, a hairstylist, was driving and looking for a parking spot in the 7100 block of South Artesian early Friday morning when a dark-colored SUV pulled up alongside her vehicle and a person in the back of the vehicle fired shots, striking her in the head.
Talbert was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where she died a short time later.
Derick Patrick, who was expecting her second child, was sitting in her car in the 7400 block of South Vincennes on Jan. 12 when two men approached her and opened fire, striking her multiple times.
She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle spoke at the Thomas vigil on Wednesday, saying that the county’s Justice Advisory Council is aiming to combat violence through community investments, promising an additional $30 million to groups fighting disinvestment and marginalization.
“Over 1,000 killings occurred in Cook County last year, with women accounting for 23% of them,” she stated. “That’s more than twice what we had the prior year.” Shootings and killings on a daily basis cannot be the new normal. This must come to an end.”
Preckwinkle said the council’s goal is to address long-standing disinvestment in the county’s most dangerous communities in the hopes of reversing recent increases in crime.
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