A 19-year-old Midway Airport ramp worker is charged with killing a rideshare driver and the driver’s passenger in a drunken high-speed crash outside Chicago police headquarters.
Erick Garcia-Ambriz faces two counts of aggravated DUI causing death and two counts of reckless homicide in connection with the October 14, 2024, collision that claimed the lives of Kalieb Ghebreyesus and his passenger, Shanika Smith. Both victims were 41.
Prosecutors allege Garcia-Ambriz was speeding southbound on Michigan Avenue in his black 2014 Infiniti Q50 when he ran a red light at 35th Street and struck Ghebreyesus’ Chevy Bolt in the intersection at 86 mph. The impact caused the rideshare vehicle to flip and land on its passenger side on the sidewalk across the street from CPD headquarters, Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Grace Donnelly said.
Surveillance footage from police headquarters captured the crash and showed the traffic light had been red for 43 seconds before Garcia-Ambriz entered the intersection, according to prosecutors. Another driver who witnessed Garcia-Ambriz approaching at high speed pulled to the side to let him pass moments before hearing the crash, Donnelly said…