A 9-year-old pedestrian fatally struck by a vehicle Thursday morning in the Austin neighborhood has been identified, officials said.

The boy was walking shortly before 7:45 a.m. in the 4800 block of West Walton Street when a light-colored Chevy sedan headed west on Walton struck him, Chicago police said. The boy was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

He was identified Friday morning as Anakin Perez of the 4900 block of West Iowa Street, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

In a WGN news segment,  Anakin’s relatives said he was on his way to school at Robert E. McNair elementary school. The boy was fatally struck less than half a mile from his residence.

“He’s a 9-year-old child who gets along with everybody,” a relative said during the broadcast, adding he was well known in the neighborhood.

Speaking to the person who struck Anakin, the relative said, “A ticket or two or three you get to pay those tickets. We don’t get to get him back at all.”

The driver of the sedan was placed into custody, and charges were pending, police said.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/19/boy-fatally-struck-vehicle-west-side/