Shawman Meireis Florida tourist killed by speeding Corvette drag racing on Chicago street. Victim was visiting with boyfriend Eric Eanone over the weekend.
A 40-year-old tourist visiting Chicago with her boyfriend was killed over the weekend as a pair of Corvettes believed to be drag racing spun out of control and plowed into her on a crosswalk.
Shawman Meireis, a business consultant from Naples, Florida, was walking to a late dinner after a music festival, early Sunday morning, circa 1:40am when a red Corvette smashed into her.
Mereis’ boyfriend, Eric Eanone, grabbed the 27-year-old driver of the car after the vehicle coming to a stop, flung him against a lamp post, and yelled at him: ‘You killed my girlfriend,’ witnesses told The Chicago Sun-Times.
Meireis according to reports died one day before celebrating her 41st birthday.
The driver and a 19-year-old woman in a blue Corvette had been seen revving their engines at a stop light, before hitting the gas and speeding down Cicero Avenue, near Midway Airport.
One of many illegal street take overs occurring
Police and witnesses said the two cars were cutting across lanes to block each other, weaving through traffic until the red Corvette hit Meireis.
The blue Corvette sped off, leaving Meireis fighting for her life. She was pronounced dead in hospital. It wasn’t immediately clear what charges the speeding Corvette driver now faced.
The incident was one of many illegal street ‘take overs’ to be reported in Chicago at the weekend.
Streets across the city were blocked by large groups filming drivers performing ‘doughnuts’, sometimes with passengers hanging out the windows.
Video captures street racing in Chicago’s West Loop overnight. Hundreds of people blocked the intersection at Madison & Morgan.
CPD’s response coming up on @nbcchicago pic.twitter.com/WAUGtaHWsv— Kate Chappell (@kchappellnews) August 28, 2022
Other arrests and cars impounded for drag racing
Other onlookers got close to the swerving cars, jumping on the hood and leaning in to film.
Videos shared on social media (see directly above) also showed large crowds of people gathered in the heart of downtown, at the intersections in the trendy West Loop and restaurant-filled South Loop districts.
There were also drag racing and drifting events in East Pilsen, Downtown and the Near West Side, police said.
Nine people were arrested, seven cars were impounded cars and six police cars were damaged after participants threw fireworks, bricks, and rocks at officers.
