Woman charged in deadly January hit-and-run of pastor's wife in West Town
A Chicago woman was charged in the hit-and-run that left a pastor's wife dead in West Town earlier this year.
Iryna Kalach, 39, was arrested by Chicago police and members of the U.S. Marshal Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force on Thursday in the 1700 block of South State Street.
She was charged with one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident and one misdemeanor count of failure to give information or render aid and given three citations for operating an uninsured vehicle, failure to exercise due care, and failure to yield to a pedestrian.
Police said Kalach was identified as the person who, on Jan. 24, just before 9 a.m., was driving a 2022 red four-door Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross when she hit a woman who was in the crosswalk.
Kalach appeared at a detention hearing on Friday, where prosecutors said that the victim, 66-year-old Halyan Hudzan, was walking westbound on Chicago Avenue on the south side of the walkway. When she started to cross Oakley on the southeast corner with a walk signal visible, the Mitsubishi turned right onto Chicago from Oakley, disobeying a red light, hitting Hudzan, who then fell in front of the car.
After several seconds, the driver [Kalach] began to accelerate over the victim's body, which became stuck underneath the car and was briefly dragged, prosecutors said. The driver then left the scene heading eastbound on Chicago.
Hudzan was conscious at the scene. She was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
Other drivers who witnessed the crash called 911 from their phones. Another witness followed the Mitsubishi and took photos and video of the car with their phone, capturing the license plate before pulling next to her in a Mariano's parking lot, where they also got a picture of the Kalach. She was identified following a photo array, prosecutors said.
Additional videos from the parking lot captured a child getting out of the car and entering the store briefly before returning to the Mitsubishi, which then took off.
Investigators learned that the car was registered to Kalach. They arrived at her residence, where the car was spotted in the back parking lot. Additional surveillance from the property also showed Kalach and the child entering the Mitsubishi and leaving the residence shortly before the crash, before returning about an hour later.
The vehicle was towed and later processed by evidence technicians, prosecutors said. A spot from underneath the car was consistent with where Hudzan was dragged. Fibers underneath the car also match the ones on the victim's jacket.
Following the hearing, the victim's family said in a statement:
"This unexpected tragedy has totally devastated his entire family, which includes himself, his children and grandchildren. His wife, Halyna was an intricate part of their lives, as well as the Ukrainian community in Chicago, and his Parrish. Father is praying that God's will be followed in this case, as well as praying for all those involved, including, and not only for Chicago Police Officer Hartfield, the presiding judge and attorneys, while being hopeful that justice will eventually be obtained."
Kalach has three previous traffic-related offenses, two of which were for speeding.
She was ordered released and is due back in court on May 14.
