UIC sprinter Sariyah Watson was on her way home. The 21-year-old University of Illinois Chicago sprinter was driving toward DeKalb in the early hours of Sunday, May 10, to spend Mother’s Day with her mom. At around 4 a.m., on Interstate 88 near Aurora, a vehicle traveling eastbound in the westbound lane struck her car head-on. Watson, her passenger and best friend Heaven Williams, also 21, and the other driver, 32-year-old Jonathan Rivera of Melrose Park, were all pronounced dead at the scene. The Kane County Coroner’s Office confirmed all three identities on Tuesday.
Illinois State Police said the wrong-way vehicle collided with Watson’s car in the westbound left lane near milepost 112.25 in Sugar Grove. The crash left both vehicles heavily damaged. An investigation by the ISP is ongoing. Watson’s father, Antonio Watson, a deputy with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, spoke to reporters after learning of his daughter’s death. “How somebody does that is beyond me,” he told ABC7 Chicago. “No script can be written that will allow you to accept this type of tragic loss.”
Watson was a junior UIC sprinter on the women’s track and field team, majoring in sports management. She and Williams grew up in DeKalb together, graduated from DeKalb High School as part of the Class of 2023, and ran track as teammates for the Barbs before Watson went on to compete for the Flames. Williams had dreams of a career in nursing. The two were traveling together when the crash happened. A friend, Ava Spencer, told CBS News that the route Watson was driving was near her home in DeKalb, a familiar road she had taken many times before…