Police say that speed may have been a factor in the fiery crash that killed a 27-year-old woman in Waukegan on Friday. Good Samaritans rescued a male passenger, police added.
The Waukegan Fire Department and Waukegan Police Department responded around 1:39 a.m. Friday to the 2300 block of North Sheridan Road for a vehicle crash with injuries.
Waukegan police officers arrived on the scene and found a single-vehicle crash, according to the Waukegan Police Department.
The car had crashed into a tree and caught on fire, causing a female driver to be partially ejected and a male passenger to become trapped in the vehicle.
Good Samaritans were in the process of removing the male passenger from the burning car as officers arrived, the Waukegan Police Department said on Monday.
The male passenger was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The female driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Waukegan Police Department’s Crash Investigation Division and Lake County Coroner’s Office were called to the scene to investigate.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said that the driver was identified as Shaneera Bell.
A Friday autopsy showed that Bell, 27, of Waukegan, died as a result of multiple blunt force injuries from the collision, Banek said.
Investigators believe that Bell was driving the 2001 Toyota Corolla southbound on Sheridan Road when she lost control of her vehicle.
Investigators said that speed may have been a factor and Bell and her passenger, a Waukegan man in his 20s, were both not wearing seatbelts.
It is unknown if alcohol was a factor, as toxicology results are pending.
Sheridan Road between Blanchard Road and Miraflores Avenue was closed for several hours into late Friday morning while investigators worked at the scene.