Go-kart driver dies in Marengo Township crash, man charged with hit-and-run

A man has been charged in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 29-year-old Elgin woman Saturday evening in northwest suburban Marengo Township.

About 10:20 p.m., officers and paramedics arrived in the 22200 block of River Road after a crash between a 2011 Toyota Camry and a Manco go-kart, according to a statement from the McHenry County sheriff’s office.

Marengo resident Brett Herold, 26, was heading west on River road in the Toyota Camry when he rear-ended the go-kart, police said. He drove away, but officers soon tracked him down and took him into custody.

The go-kart driver, 29-year-old Yajayra Huerta of Elgin, was taken to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in Woodstock, where she was pronounced dead at 11:04 p.m., police and the McHenry County coroner’s office said. No one else was injured, and River Road was closed for about six hours.

An autopsy Sunday found Huerta died if blunt trauma to her brain, spine, chest and abdomen, the coroner’s office said.

Herold was charged with speeding and leaving the scene of a fatal crash, according to the McHenry County sheriff’s records. The latter charge is a first-degree felony.

His next court appearance was scheduled for Monday morning, according to records.

The McHenry County Sheriff’s Major Crash Investigation Unit was investigating the incident.