A Chicago man who struck and killed a pedestrian while speeding away from a police traffic stop this week was on bail for attempted murder and robbery at the time of the crash, prosecutors said Thursday.
Isaac Wade, 20, is the sixth person accused of killing or shooting someone in Chicago this year while on bail for other serious felonies.
Prosecutors said police pulled Wade over for failing to display a license plate shortly before noon Monday near 74th and Racine. As officers approached his car, Wade sped off and was traveling 80 MPH when he ran a nearby red light, careened off a car that was entering the intersection, and then struck 42-year-old Lakisel Thomas as she walked nearby, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
Thomas, who suffered a broken neck, head trauma, cuts, a crushed chest, and had tire marks on her chest, was pronounced dead at St. Bernard’s Hospital, according to Murphy.
He said officers were following Wade at “30 to 33 MPH” but were not chasing Wade at the time of the crash. Three people in the car Wade allegedly struck were treated and released from hospitals.
Police arrived at the crash site seven seconds after the collision, Murphy said. They allegedly saw Wade throw an “L-shaped object” onto the front passenger floorboard where officers later found a handgun.
Neither Wade nor his cousin, who was sitting in the passenger seat at the time of the crash, is charged with possessing the weapon. The cousin is on electronic monitoring for a pending gun case,
During a recorded interview, Wade admitted to speeding from police and said he was FaceTiming with his girlfriend when he crashed, Murphy said.
Wade is awaiting trial for a 2017 shooting in which he is charged with attempted murder. He had been held in lieu of $2 million bail until November 23 when Judge Dennis Porter reduced it to $150,000.
Ordinarily, that would require a $15,000 deposit bond to get out. But a zero was left out of the judge’s order by mistake and Wade was freed after his uncle posted just $1,500 on November 24, according to court records.
Someone caught the error during a January court hearing and Wade’s father posted an additional $13,500 bond, records show.
Wade was convicted of a 2016 robbery and gun case in juvenile court on May 2, 2017, but Murphy said he has never been sentenced. Wade also has another 2017 juvenile robbery case that is still pending.
Judge Arthur Willis said Wade faces a sentence of two- to five years if he is convicted of reckless homicide for Thomas’ death this week. He ordered Wade held without bail for violating the terms of release in the attempted murder case and set bail at $500,000 for the new reckless homicide charge.
Related reporting
- At least 32 people charged with murder in Chicago last year were free on bail at the time of the killings (January 4, 2021)
- We find another man accused of committing murder while on affordable bail in 2020 (January 9, 2021)
- #1: 16-year-old charged with shooting man during robbery while awaiting trial for felony (January 12, 2021)
- #2: Man fatally shot girlfriend while on electronic monitoring for November gun case, prosecutors say (January 20, 2021)
- #3: On bail for 3 separate felony cases, “fanged” man now charged with killing 12-year-old in DUI crash (January 23, 2021)
- #4: Man on affordable bail for his 3rd felony gun case is charged with weekend murder (January 28, 2021)
- #5: Man charged with murder while on bail for 3rd gun case and escape (February 5, 2021)
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