High school senior leaving prom among two killed in Calumet City crash

An 18-year-old on his way home from a high school prom and a 56-year-old man died in a head-on crash early Saturday in south suburban Calumet City.

The crash happened in 700 block of State Street at 6:40 a.m., Calumet City Police Chief Edward Gilmore said.

Aaron K. Dunigan, 18, a student at Thornton Fractional North High School, was heading home from prom with two teenage boys when their westbound vehicle crossed the center line and struck an eastbound vehicle, driven by 56-year-old Juan Jose Rivera, authorities said.

Dunigan, of the 800 block of 163rd Street in Calumet City, was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:26 a.m., the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Rivera was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 7:33 a.m., the medical examiner’s office said. He lived in the 600 block of Ingraham Avenue in Calumet City.

The teen driving the westbound vehicle was charged with possession of marijuana, Gilmore said. A blood test was being evaluated to see if he had any marijuana in his system at the time of the crash, Gilmore said. It wasn’t known whether the other two boys were injured.

Dunigan was a senior at Thornton, Principal Dwayne E. Evans said in a statement on the school’s website. The school spelled the student’s last name as “Dunnigan.”

“It is with a heavy heart that the TF North community announces the death of one of our Senior Meteors, Aaron Dunnigan,” Evans said. “Please keep all families involved in your thoughts and prayers.”