Fight over panhandling turf led woman to shove man under moving truck, killing him, prosecutors say

A woman killed a fellow panhandler while they fought over turf along the Edens Expressway last Friday, Cook County prosecutors said.

Mary Normand, 26, repeatedly struck the man with a 3-foot-long metal stake then pushed him under a moving box truck, Assistant State’s Attorney Danny Hanichak said in court Monday.

After Eriberto Hernandez was run over, she continued beating him with the stake while he cried for help, Hanichak said.

Hernandez, 47, was hospitalized for a day before he was pronounced dead, authorities said. His death was ruled a homicide by the Cook County medical examiner.

The fight began in the afternoon when Normand became upset that Hernandez was panhandling on the southbound ramp at Wilson Avenue, a ramp she claimed as her own, Hanichak said.

The pair allegedly had an ongoing issue about working that area.

Witnesses saw Normand chase Hernandez and strike him with the fencing stake while Hernandez defended himself with his hands and retreated onto the expressway, Hanichak said.

Three witnesses in the box truck saw Normand push the man under the back wheels of the truck, prosecutors said. Normand continued hitting him in the head until a fourth person intervened, Hanichak said.

She threw down the stake and ran away but returned to the scene almost five hours later and was arrested, according to a police report.

Judge Maryam Ahmad ordered Normand held without bail on a count of first-degree murder.