A judge released a TikToker pending trial after she was arrested for livestreaming while driving, allegedly running a red light with a child in her car and fatally striking a man crossing the street in Zion.
Tynesha McCarty-Wroten, 43, of Zion, is charged with reckless homicide, a Class 3 felony, and aggravated use of a communication device causing death, a Class 4 felony.
Zion Police Department Lt. Paul Kehrli told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that the charges were filed on Tuesday and an arrest warrant was obtained.
McCarty-Wroten, who was registered under the TikTok account Tea_Tyme_3, was driving in the area of 33rd Street and Sheridan Road in Zion around 5:46 p.m. on November 3.
Kehrli said McCarty-Wroten was driving a 2015 Ford utility vehicle on Sheridan Road.
She told investigators she had a green light but video evidence showed she actually had a red light.
Darren Lucas, 59, of Beach Park, was attempting to cross Sheridan Road just south of 33rd Street when he was hit by the Ford.
McCarty-Wroten remained at the scene, called 911 and provided a statement to investigators, Kehrli said. She also provided a blood and urine sample.
Officers who were first on scene began performing CPR on Lucas, who was unconscious and not breathing, according to fire department radio traffic.
Paramedics took over lifesaving measures and rushed Lucas to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan. He was pronounced dead in the emergency room.
An autopsy performed on Lucas showed he died as a result of blunt force injuries from the collision.
The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) responded to conduct the crash reconstruction and investigation.
A screen recording of a TikTok live video was published on TikTok on November 7 and showed the Tea_Tyme_3 account, now confirmed to belong to McCarty-Wroten, who is a content creator with TikTok, YouTube and Instagram accounts with thousands of followers, driving her car when she hit Lucas.
McCarty-Wroten was looking at her phone when she then glanced back at the road and suddenly screamed as a loud thud could be heard.
“F–k, f–k, f–k,” she said as a child passenger in the car could be heard asking, “What was that?” Another person could be heard asking if the woman was okay.
“I just hit somebody,” she said before disconnecting from the live stream.
McCarty-Wroten had a child under 10 in her backseat at the time of the crash.
The video published on November 7 on TikTok was a screen recording of the TikTok live stream, which was originally streamed to the platform on November 3 when the crash occurred.
After the discovery of the video, the Zion Police Department began looking into the video and eventually verified its validity.
Kehrli said the woman’s phone was seized and search warrants and subpoenas were obtained. The police investigation was completed as of earlier this week.
The investigation showed her phone made the live-streamed TikTok video on the same date and time of the crash, Kehrli said.
Kehrli said the investigation was expedited by the crime lab and MCAT. TikTok reached out to the police department and assigned a specific investigator to aid in the case with gathering data from TikTok.
The police department then reached out to the state’s attorney’s office for them to review the case for charges. That review occurred on Tuesday and the charges were filed.
Kehrli said police had been in touch with McCarty-Wroten’s attorney since earlier on in the investigation. They requested that he have her self-surrender on Tuesday after being charged but the attorney indicated she was unable to surrender for a week.
Officers went to her residence in Zion on Tuesday afternoon and located her. She was leaving her home with packed bags, Kehrli said.
McCarty-Wroten was arrested and has been transported to the Lake County Jail.
She appeared in First Appearance Court on Wednesday morning — Christmas Eve — and prosecutors filed a petition to detain her pending trial.
McCarty-Wroten’s attorney, Jed Stone, argued at the court hearing that his client should be released ahead of her detention hearing, which was scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Stone said the offense happened almost two months and he did not want McCarty-Wroten to be detained on Christmas.
Stone begged with Lake County Judge Matthew DeMartini not to order his client held in the jail awaiting the detention hearing.
McCarty-Wroten has no serious criminal background, Stone said, adding that she waited with the victim, called the police and gave officers a statement.
“She has been remarkably cooperative in this investigation. She realizes someone is dead and she takes that seriously, like a weight on her shoulder,” Stone said.
The attorney questioned why the case was charged on Tuesday and said it was “beyond me.”
“I don’t understand why 60 days after an event, when those 60 days fall on the eve of Christmas, which for some people is a joyous and holy holiday… you don’t have to detain her,” Stone said.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Cannon argued McCarty-Wroten should be detained and that she is dangerous to the public even though the MCAT investigation took some time.
Cannon said McCarty-Wroten was livestreaming while driving, drove through a red light and struck a pedestrian who had the right of way while her 7-year-old grandson was in the backseat of her car.
DeMartini ultimately ordered McCarty-Wroten detained in the Lake County Jail ahead of the Friday detention hearing.
The detention hearing was held on Friday afternoon in front of Lake County Judge James Newman, who ultimately ruled that McCarty-Wroten would be released pending trial with pre-trial conditions.
Stone argued extensively for his client’s release during the hearing, saying McCarty-Wroten could not have been more cooperative with investigators and is not a flight risk.
“She has no criminal history that can be used as evidence that she will not attend court proceedings or commit any criminal acts or not comply with the court’s orders,” he said.
McCarty-Wroten has a prior driving under the influence case from 11 years ago and also reportedly has a driving on a suspended license charge in her history, prosecutors said.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Dino Katris rebutted the defense attorney’s argument that it took a long time to charge McCarty-Wroten by saying that there had to be an extensive investigation before they could file serious felonies against her.
“There were 974 pieces of evidence tendered to defense counsel. This was an investigation that was exhausted to the end to make sure that the right charges were presented for this defendant based upon her reckless actions,” Katris said.
Newman called the allegations “extremely concerning” and said McCarty-Wroten committed a “reckless act” by “consciously disregarding a substantial risk” when she divided her attention to her 14 livestream viewers as her grandchild sat in the backseat and Lucas crossed the street.
Video showed McCarty-Wroten did not apply her brakes until after hitting Lucas.
The judge noted there are no convictions on McCarty-Wroten’s record but said her primary focus was entertaining her followers instead of keeping others safe as she drove a 2,000-pound vehicle.
Newman said that Illinois law presumes that McCarty-Wroten is eligible for pre-trial release.
The judge placed McCarty-Wroten on Level 4 pre-trial release with a curfew and orders not to drive a vehicle and not to use social media outside of her home. He said the conditions could mitigate the risk she poses to the community.
Kehrli said the case is a reminder to the public that distracted driving is extremely dangerous and lives depend on drivers paying attention to the road.
“Our grieving will last forever, but seeing justice starting to happen helps,” Chris King, Lucas’ son-in-law, told Lake and McHenry County Scanner following the arrest.
“The hardest part is the mother in law lost the most, and only with lots of time, counseling, and love will she be able to find her way to move forward, without her best friend, her love, and honestly her life. She did so much for him, and to see him erased, is unfathomable,” he added.
King said his family is blessed to have the support of the community.
“He played a great role in [us] finding humor when humor is needed,” King said.
“I personally just lost a great friend, while so many lost much more, hope… hope that if this guy can make people happy, no matter their background or affiliation, at his own expense at times. But we loved him for who he was, and the light that he shone on our lives,” King said.
King described Lucas as the “nicest guy I’ve known” and said his father-in-law worked at the former Piggly Wiggly, which is now Torres Fresh Market, across the street from where he was struck by the vehicle.
McCarty-Wroten is scheduled to appear in court again on January 27 for a status of preliminary hearing.