A 1-year-old baby and a 64-year-old Spring Grove woman were killed, and the baby’s 3-year-old sister remains in critical condition after a three-car crash in Lake Villa Thursday evening, police said.
The Lake Villa Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 5:20 p.m. Thursday to the 39300 block of North Route 59 in unincorporated Lake Villa for a three-vehicle crash with injuries.
Lake County Sheriff Spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli said that a 2017 Nissan SUV was traveling northbound when it struck a 2014 Ford pickup truck that tried to merge back out onto the roadway from the shoulder.
The Nissan rolled over onto its side and was then struck by a southbound 2007 Hyundai minivan. The 64-year-old Spring Grove woman driving the Nissan and a 1-year-old male child, who was in the backseat of the car, were both pronounced dead at the scene, Covelli said.
A Flight For Life medical helicopter transported a 3-year-old female child, who was also in the backseat of the Nissan, to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge where she remains in critical condition Friday.
A 57-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy, both from Lake Villa, who were in the Hyundai minivan, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries and were transported by ambulance to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. Both of them have since been released from the hospital.
The 41-year-old Grayslake man driving the Ford pickup truck, which was pulling a trailer, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was also transported by ambulance to Advocate Condell Medical Center. He has also been released from the hospital.
Route 59 was closed for over six hours following the crash while crash investigators worked at the scene.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office conducted autopsies Friday morning and is expected to release the identities of the victims on Saturday. The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Technical Crash Investigations Unit.