Alcohol a factor in fatal Auburn Gresham crash

Police say a man was drunk when he caused an Auburn Gresham neighborhood crash that left a 30-year-old southwest suburban woman dead early Sunday on the South Side.

Markus Spires, 29, was charged with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol in an accident causing death and aggravated DUI in an accident causing bodily harm, both felonies. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of DUI and cited for failure to reduce speed, failure to carry a driver’s license and operating a motor vehicle without insurance, according to Chicago Police.

Spires was driving a vehicle about 4:15 a.m. Sunday in the 7800 block of South Loomis when he smashed into the truck 30-year-old Barbara Pettis was driving, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The collision sent her vehicle into another car parked on the block, authorities said. Pettis, of the 5100 block of State Road in Burbank, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Spires was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition.

Fire officials said another man, 35, was injured in the crash and taken to Christ in serious condition. It wasn’t clear which vehicle he was in.

Spires, of the 900 block of West 86th Street, was scheduled to appear in bond court Tuesday.