Child, 11, dies in Marengo-area crash; boy ‘was always full of joy’

An 11-year-old child has died in a Monday crash near Marengo, authorities said.

The child was a passenger in a car driven by a 29-year-old Wonder Lake man who suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to a McHenry County Sheriff’s Office new release.

Responders were called to Kishwaukee Valley and Deerpass roads north of Marengo about 6:30 p.m. Monday.

According to the release, a preliminary investigation “indicates that a 2016 Ford Transit Van, driven by an 18-year-old Huntley man, was traveling north on Deerpass Road, approaching the intersection with Kishwaukee Valley Road, which has a stop sign. A 2012 Audi Q5, driven by the 29-year-old Wonder Lake man with the 11-year-old passenger was traveling east on Kishwaukee Valley Road, and did not have a stop sign. For unknown reasons, the driver of the Ford failed to yield at the stop sign and crashed into the Audi, causing the Audi to hit a tree on the north side of the roadway."

When first-responders arrived, they found one vehicle that had left the roadway and hit a tree, and the other was just north of the intersection, Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts spokesperson Alex Vucha said.

The child was trapped the Audi, “prompting an immediate extrication and life-saving measures,” Vucha said.

Fire crews requested a medical helicopter which landed nearby. The child was taken to Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside in Rockford, although an MD-1 physician and helicopter crew assisted. The child was in critical condition at the time of transport and “receiving every possible means of medical attention,” Vucha said.

The sheriff’s office said the child was later pronounced dead.

The 18-year-old Huntley man was taken to Northwestern Medicine Woodstock Hospital with minor injuries.

McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett on Facebook asked for prayers for the boy’s family and wrote, “This boy was always full of joy!” He declined further comment when reached.