The coroner’s office has identified a 24-year-old woman killed after she crashed her car into a tree, causing it to split in half early New Year’s Day in Woodstock.
McHenry County Interim Coroner John Miller told Lake and McHenry County Scanner on Monday that Chiquita D. Gates, 24, of Harvard, died in a single-vehicle crash on January 1.
The Woodstock Fire/Rescue District and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day to the 11100 block of Charles Road in unincorporated Woodstock.
A 2007 Dodge Caliber, driven by Gates, was traveling westbound on Charles Road when it went off the roadway and struck a tree, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office said.
The Dodge was severed in half after striking the tree. Paramedics pronounced Gates, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, dead at the scene, officials said.
The McHenry County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene and conducted an autopsy on Gates. Toxicology test results are pending.
A visitation for Gates will take place on Saturday, Jan. 11, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., and a funeral service will proceed the visitation immediately from 12-1 p.m. Both will be held at Fitzgerald Funeral Home and Crematory, 1860 S. Mulford Rd. in Rockford.
Gates graduated from Woodstock High School in 2013 and recently graduated from First Institute Vocational and Technical School in Crystal Lake, her obituary said.
“Chiquita enjoyed basketball, singing, swimming, dancing, and spending time with her family most of all. Having an adventurous spirit Chiquita enjoyed traveling and trying new things, especially new hair styles. She would light up a room with her smile and positive attitude everywhere she went,” her obituary read.
The crash remains under investigation by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Major Crash Investigation Unit and McHenry County Coroner’s Office.
In November, a 34-year-old man was killed and a 44-year-old woman was seriously injured during a single-vehicle crash at almost the same location on Charles Road west of Queen Anne Road.