Woman charged with DUI for fatal I-57 crash

A woman is facing DUI charges after her passenger was killed in a crash Sunday in south suburban Peotone.

Rita Mullins, 32, was driving a 1997 Mercedes south on I-57 at 11:48 p.m. when it drove off the right side of the expressway and hit a tree near Peotone Road, according to Illinois State Police.

Her passenger, a 46-year-old Blue Island man, was airlifted to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, state police said. He died from multiple blunt force injuries, and his death was ruled an accident, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Will County sheriff’s office

Mullins, who lives in Chicago, was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, according to state police. She was then taken into custody.

She remains in custody at the Will County Adult Detention Facility on a felony count of aggravated DUI with no valid insurance, according to Will County sheriff’s office inmate records.

She is also charged with misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and operating an uninsured motor vehicle and was issued traffic citations for failure to reduce speed and improper lane use, according to the sheriff’s office.

Mullins is due to appear in court on Tuesday.