Man charged with fatally hitting 93-year-old woman with his SUV in Edgewater

A man has been charged with killing a 93-year-old woman when he struck her with his SUV last month in the Edgewater neighborhood on the North Side.

Rayon Allen, a Jamaican citizen living in Chicago while attending college, is charged with reckless homicide in the Sept. 24 crash that killed Lorraine Campion, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Allen’s bail was set at $10,000 during a hearing Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building before Judge Mary Marubio.

Shortly after 11 a.m., Campion was walking in front of the entrance to a parking garage in the 5500 block of North Sheridan Road when Allen made an illegal left turn and struck her as he drove toward the garage entrance, prosecutors said.

Witnesses at the scene told investigators that Allen drove around another vehicle that was waiting for Campion to clear the entrance when he struck her, according to Chicago police.

Campion was thrown to the ground by Allen’s 2015 BMW X5 SUV and pinned under the vehicle, police said. After striking her, witnesses who saw the crash came to her aid, while Allen stayed in the SUV, prosecutors said. When he did get out of the SUV — about 30 seconds later — he tried to pull Campion out from under his vehicle by her leg until witnesses intervened.

While waiting for emergency crews to arrived, Allen tried to enter several of the witnesses’ vehicles, as well as other vehicles parked in the garage by a valet service, prosecutors said. He got inside several of the vehicles, but got out each time he was confronted by a witness. Allen also allegedly tried to walk away from the crash, but was stopped by a witness and he returned. He was taken into police custody when officers arrived.

Allen’s court-appointed public defender said he has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder that may explain his actions at the scene following the crash.

Campion, who lived in the block, was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where she died at 8:35 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy conducted the next day found she died from multiple injuries related to the crash and her death was ruled an accident.

Allen, who lives in the Edgewater Beach neighborhood, was taken to a hospital for DUI testing, prosecutors said. The results of the tests were still pending Thursday.

Allen’s attorney said he grew up in Kingston, Jamaica and has been living in Chicago since 2012 while he attends college for media studies. He has been working as a contractor on media projects and also driving for Lyft. He was about to start a part-time job with Amazon, the attorney said.

A spokeswoman for Lyft said Allen wasn’t working for the company at the time of the crash.

“The safety of the community is our top priority and we have permanently removed the driver from the Lyft platform,” the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Allen’s brother, who attended the hearing, said he could provide $500 toward Allen’s bond and said that other family members could provide another $500, Allen’s attorney said.

Judge Marubio also ordered Allen to submit to electronic monitoring and follow a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew as the case continues as conditions of his bond.

He was next scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 6.