Driver charged with fatal pedestrian hit-and-run in Lawndale

A 48-year-old West Side man has been charged with driving away after fatally hitting a 35-year-old woman with his SUV on Wednesday evening in the Lawndale neighborhood.

Jesse Gather was at the wheel when the woman was struck while crossing the street about 6:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of South Kedzie, according to Chicago Police. She died at Mount Sinai Hospital an hour later.

Gather took off after the crash, but was arrested soon after and less than a half-mile away in the 3400 block of West Douglas, police said. He was charged with felony counts of reckless homicide and leaving the scene of an accident, as well as a misdemeanor count of reckless driving.

Police initially said the victim was a man. The Cook County medical examiner’s office has not identified the person.

Gather, of the 700 block of South Kedzie, was scheduled to appear in bond court Saturday.