4th teen dies after car allegedly speeds away from traffic stop in suburban Berkeley

A fourth teenager has died following a crash last week in west suburban Berkeley after a driver allegedly sped away from a traffic stop.

Tekiera Heron, 15, of West Woodlawn, died Dec. 3 at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

She was taken there in critical condition following the Nov. 30 crash at Bohlander and Taft avenues, Berkeley Police Chief Tim Larem said Monday.

About 11 p.m. that night, an officer saw a vehicle with no visible license plate and its lights off in an alley near a business, Larem has said. When the officer tried to curb the car, the vehicle sped off at a high rate of speed from the 5500 block of St. Charles Road.

Within 30 seconds of fleeing, the driver went through a stop sign and crashed into a semitrailer at an intersection.

Three other people died the day of the crash. They included: Orkitt Gresham, 18, of Chicago; Tamiyah L. Marshall, 18, of the Back of the Yards neighborhood; and Jacquez Barber, 19, of the South Deering neighborhood.