Woman charged with DUI in fatal 2024 hit-and-run crash in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood

A woman has been charged with drunk driving in a fatal hit-and-run crash in 2024 in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago.

Joscelyn Mercado, 20, of Streamwood has been charged with four counts of aggravated driving under the influence and one count of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Cook County prosecutors said, on Aug. 17, 2024, Mercado was at a party with her cousin and friends, drinking and smoking marijuana, before leaving the party to meet up with other friends at Loyola Beach

After stopping at a McDonald's, she ran multiple stop signs and hit several curbs before heading east on Howard Street, where she struck 67-year-old James Tillman Jr. as he was crossing the street in the 1900 block of West Howard Street, along the border between Chicago and Evanston.

Prosecutors said Mercado did not stop, and dragged Tillman 5-7 feet before he was dislodged from under her pickup truck.

Three people who were in the truck with Mercado had asked her to stop before the crash, and one of them posted a Snapchat story about it.

Evanston police responded to the scene and Tillman was taken to the hospital, where he later was pronounced dead.

Police POD cameras recorded Mercado's truck fleeing the scene and driving to Loyola Beach, where Chicago police found her in the driver's seat of the truck. Neither Mercado nor anyone in the truck had called 911 to report hitting Tillman.

Prosecutors said blood and urine tests taken from Mercado were analyzed by the Illinois State Police, who determined her blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was between 0.108 and 0.164, over the legal limit for driving.

DNA samples taken from the bumper of Mercado's truck matched to Tillman, and DNA from inside the vehicle matched to Mercado.

However, Mercado was not charged until Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear why Mercado was not charged until nearly two years after the crash.

At her first court appearance on Thursday, a judge released Mercado on electronic monitoring, including a SCRAM device to monitor her alcohol levels. She also is prohibited from using alcohol, marijuana, or illegal drugs while awaiting trial.

She is due back in court on Nov. 4.