Police have identified and charged a driver, who remains wanted, with fatally striking a Waukegan mother and grandmother with a vehicle in Winthrop Harbor before fleeing the scene in February.
Shanna White, 50, of Waukegan, was hit by a vehicle while walking on Sheridan Road between 14th Street and 16th Street in Winthrop Harbor around 11:10 p.m. on February 26.
The driver and vehicle involved in the crash fled the scene.
Court records show police identified the suspect as Travis W. Kern, 35, of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
He has since been charged with failure to report a crash involving death, a Class 1 felony, and leaving the scene of a crash involving injury or death, a Class 4 felony.
Paramedics with the Winthrop Harbor Fire Department rushed White to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan where she was pronounced dead.
Police previously said they believed the suspect continued driving northbound after hitting White.
The woman’s daughter, Shaeve White, told Lake & McHenry County Scanner that her family was “hurting and devastated by this,” adding that they were in shock at what happened.
Shaeve believes her mother was walking to the La Villa Motel, which is just down the road from where she was hit. She said that her mother frequently walks.
“Everyone knew my mom. She was from here, she was very well known,” Shaeve said. “My mom left behind 5 kids and multiple grandchildren, left behind a mom, aunt, cousins, sisters, brothers,” she added.
“I’m just hoping they find this person and we can just get some type of justice served,” Shaeve said in March.
Shaeve offered a $5,000 reward for those who came forward with information leading to an arrest, while also asking the person who hit her mom to come forward and explain the circumstances.
“Explain yourself, tell us the story of what really happened that night,” she said. A funeral was held for Shanna White in March.
An arrest warrant for Kern said he was the driver of the vehicle that struck White and he knew the crash occurred but failed to immediately stop his vehicle at the scene and remain there.
Kern also failed to report the crash within a half-hour after the crash, the warrant said.
A grand jury returned an indictment charging Kern with the felony offenses last month. Kern faces up to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections if convicted of the most serious charge.
Court records show the warrant remains active for his arrest as of Friday.