Angelica Gonzalez, mother of Martha Gonzalez, who was killed by a hit-andrun driver on Oct. 13, holds a photograph of her daughter near the intersection of 18th and Halsted Streets, where the accident occured. (Persepolitan Image by: Amir Normandi)

By Ivette Sandoval

At the oddly configured intersection of 18th and Halsted Streets, the crosswalk comes in the middle of a block, not at the end. Also, 18th Street curves going east, and because the intersection lacks “no turn on red” signs, any car can make a right turn at any time. On 18th Street going west, the road has a left turn lane but no left turn signal.

Martha Gonzalez, a 36-year-old wife and mother of two, died at that intersection on Oct. 13, and her family continues to wonder exactly what happened at 5:05p.m. when a hit-and-run driver plowed into her and then sped off.

Weeks after Gonzalez’s death, her husband, Andrew Kudelka, set up the Martha Gonzalez Memorial Committee, composed of friends and family who knew her and who want to help the Chicago Police Department find the perpetrator. They have set up a website, www.marthagonzalezmemorial.com, where people can learn more about the crime, view photos of Gonzalez, and make donations for the memorial. They also started a hotline for anonymous tips at (312) 203-4986, where calls from witnesses to the crime can be made in English, Spanish, and Polish.

During a press conference on Dec. 14 at Kristoffer’s Café, located at 1733 S. Halsted St. near the accident site, the Gonzalez family pleaded with the community to come forward with any details anyone may have of the crime.

Originally, the committee offered a $5,000 reward to anyone who could provide a good lead, but in November the committee held a fundraiser and now is offering $10,000 to find the person responsible for Gonzalez’s death.

Committee members have distributed flyers in the community, hung announcements in windows of nearby businesses, and are working with Alderman Daniel Solis’s office and the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT).

“Since Martha’s death, improvements have been made at the intersection of 18th and Halsted, which include repainting of crosswalks, adding yield-topedestrian signs, and adding a three-second delay in traffic lights to allow pedestrians to cross,” said Antonia Lopez, long-time friend of Martha Gonzalez.

According to Manuel Morales, the committee also wants a leftturn signal at the intersection; this has not been implemented yet, although CDOT has told the City it will try to make that change. In the meantime, the family and committee hope people will come forward with new clues about the crime.

“I’m sure someone saw something,” said Angelica Gonzalez, mother of Martha Gonzalez. “Regardless of how small the detail may be, it will be very valuable for us. We will continue doing what we’re doing, because I’m sure someone saw and someone is going to give us a good clue.” She added that, regardless of how small the clue may be, if a person saw something, “whether you were walking by, riding in a bus, or driving by, waiting for the light to change,” the committee wants to hear from you. The Chicago Police Department has had no new information recently.

“We’ve received feedback from the Police Department and the detectives involved in the investigation,” Lopez said, but the witnesses who have come forward “weren’t focused on the car itself, but on the events of the situation, so they didn’t offer concise descriptions. So between the witnesses [who] have come forward, one person saw this, another saw that.”

One of the few clues detectives have is that the car that killed Gonzalez was a sedan and that it was dark colored. “If they can give us the make and model and the direction that it went, what kind of damage it had, what color it was, any partial plates, four-door, two-door—any information can help us,” she said.

Kudelka said police detectives are working very thoroughly and want to make sure their information is accurate and current before they release any more of it.

Most tips the family and committee have received have come in response to flyers in the community. The family plans to make the reward money available for at least two years, in hopes that a witness with a worthy clue will come forward. Besides her husband, Gonzalez left behind a five-year-old child and another child who is a freshman at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Contributions may be given to the trust fund set up in memory of Gonzalez at any MB Financial Bank.