Baby rescued from fiery crash that killed mother
ROBBINS, IL -- A baby was pulled from the wreckage of a car crash that killed her mother in Illinois Friday afternoon.
Janeka Hicks, 26, was killed in the two-vehicle crash near 136th and Pulaski around 3pm.
"She had a lot going on for herself. She was a working mother, also in school," said Pastor Al Hicks, her uncle.
Investigators said Hicks was driving a black Dodge Avenger with her 4-month-old baby girl, Journey, in the backseat when the collision happened with a Chevy Camaro.
"I heard the screeching and then the big boom. It actually sounded like two trucks," said Quintina Porter, a witness.
Cell phone video captured the moments after the crash. With smoke rising from the Avenger, neighbors grabbed their fire extinguishers and tried to help the victims.
"I saw a fire underneath the car, and that was my major concern. That it could blow up," said Debra Foster, a neighbor.
Investigators said Hicks and the driver of the Camaro were rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center.
Janeka Hicks didn't survive. Her child escaped with no injuries.
"That's the miracle that we have received as a family, that the child did not have no, no scratches on the child at all," Pastor Hicks said.
The driver of the Camaro is being treated at Advocate Christ Medical Center. There's no word on his condition, but he is said to have suffered serious injuries.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
