A 15-year-old girl was killed on March 21 after being struck by a car while riding an e-scooter in the South Shore neighborhood, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The incident happened around 8:30 p.m. in the 2800 block of East 77th Street. Police said Violet Harris was found unresponsive after officers responded to calls about a person lying in the street. Paramedics from the Chicago Fire Department took her to University of Chicago Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Harris’s mother, Rachel Sturgis, wrote on an online fundraiser that her daughter attended Hyde Park Academy and was enrolled in honors classes. Sturgis said she launched a GoFundMe campaign to “give my baby a proper burial. She deserves it.” Sturgis also wrote, “She filled the room with smiles when she walked in and brought so much joy to everyone she came in contact with,” on the fundraiser page.
According to news footage from the scene, Harris appeared to be using one of the city’s rentable motorized scooters similar to those available through programs like Divvy bikes.
No arrests have been made as police continue their investigation.
