15-year-old killed when car full of teens crashes into Aurora home
BY BRIAN SLODYSKO AND STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporters October 23, 2012 8:06AM
Aurora police officers stand by as a Chevy Malibu is taken from the scene of a fatal crash that claimed the life of 15-year-old Devin Meadows on Tuesday, October 23, 2012. | Jeff Cagle~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: November 25, 2012 11:34AM
Joshila Chandra and her family were fast asleep early Tuesday, when something slammed into their Aurora home.
The house shook, and a few moments later someone was frantically ringing the door bell.
“We didn’t go out,” said Chandra, 37, a mother of two. “We were scared.”
Aurora police arrived a few moments later to find a Chevrolet Malibu crashed into the side of the Chandra garage, with chunks of brick lying on the grass. One of four teens who’d been in the car lay dead in the street.
Police said Devin Meadows, 15, of the 2500 block of Crestview Drive in Aurora, was killed when the driver lost control of the speeding car and crashed into the Chandra home in the 2700 block of Hamman Way, police said.
Investigators said it appeared the kids were out joyriding at the time and alcohol was not believed to be involved.
Neither the driver of the car nor the other two passengers — all of whom were 15 years old — were seriously hurt in the crash, which occurred about 1:45 a.m., police said.
Police say Meadows was ejected from the car after the vehicle left the roadway, skidded across a patch of grass and smashed into the home.
Meadows was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and the other passengers were treated for minor wounds, police said.
Chandra said her children, ages 10 and 7, were shaken up but not hurt.
“We couldn’t sleep the whole night,” she said. “We are shaken.”
The driver of the vehicle was being questioned by police though no charges have been filed yet.
