Man killed when van slams into stopped semi on Stevenson Expressway shoulder

A man was killed in a crash Tuesday morning on the Stevenson Expressway near west suburban Stickney.

About 10:30 a.m., 21-year-old Traivon James Hemingway was driving a white 2018 Ford rental van south on Interstate 55 when he “veered from the middle lane into the far right lane onto the right shoulder in order to exit” at Harlem Avenue, according to Illinois State Police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. The van then hit the back of a semitrailer that was stopped on the shoulder because of mechanical problems.

The impact of the crash forced the van under the trailer, state police said. Hemingway, who lived in Lynwod, was dead at the scene.

No one else was in the van and the 52-year-old Chicago man driving the semi was not hurt, state police said. The far right lane of southbound I-55 and the ramp to Harlem were closed for investigation for several hours, with the lane reopening by 12:53 p.m. and the ramp reopening by 1:22 p.m.