NO CRIMINAL CHARGES IN MAY 19 FATAL

A 45-year-old woman whom La Grange police finally revealed June 18 was responsible for the tragic death one month ago today of a Countryside wife and mother as she tried to hoist a baby stroller onto a raised curb at 47th Street and 8th Avenue has been cited -- not criminally charged -- in the death.

Mary McPhillips of Chicago, who was driving eastbound in the curb lane on the south side of 47th when, for still unknown reasons, ran down Cari Cook as she was pushing her 2-year-old daughter, Ellie, and carrying her 4-month-old son, Carson, has received two traffic tickets -- for failure to exercise due care to a pedestrian and improper lane care (usage) -- and faces a Tuesday, Aug. 4 court hearing likely to be well-attended by family and friends of Cook who have since launched a crusade to see to it safety improvements are implemented along the roadway.

In fact, some residents who attended a June 2 village planning workshop to discuss proposals to reduce speed along 47th to 30 from 35 mph and to have jurisdiction of the four-lane street transferred over to La Grange and other ideas said privately they plan to make another large and vocal showing at the next Village Board meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 22.

The long-awaited disposition of the Illinois State Police and Cook County State's Attorneys Office investigation into the traffic fatality -- which took one day short of an entire month as detectives sifted through accident reconstruction evidence and testimony from those involved -- was revealed in a press release issued by La Grange Police Leiutenant Vic Arnold in the absence of a vacationing Police Chief Michael Holub.

"No data submitted and/or evaluated indicated that alcohol or drugs were a factor in this tragic event," the release stated. "The Illinois State Police did not discover any mechanical defects or roadway deficiencies that were contributory factors."

The investigation included assistance from the La Grange Police Department and the Cook County Sheriff's Police.

Cook, whose son suffered a broken leg in the crash and whose daughter was spared any injuries, was a former teacher and volleyball coach who grew up in south suburban Oak Forest. She and her husband, Matt, and the children were relatively new parishioners at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church in neighboring Western Springs.

Matt Cook, who attended high school with his future wife, has also been heavily involved in an extensive door-to-door petition campaign aimed at urging implementation of many safety ideas and changes to make 47th safer -- including the fact that many streets and sidewalks do not match up on one side vs. the other side of the street because they have been misaligned since the neighborhood to the south was subdivided and built up decades ago.

Although La Grange only had input into the investigation and was not directly responsible for carrying out the probe, some residents also have criticized the questionably long period of time it had taken to determine exactly what happened that morning.

The court case will be heard in Cook County Circuit Court in nearby Bridgeview.