Family and friends of Chicago native Tatyanna Lewis are in mourning after she was repeatedly rammed into a tree by the mother of her boyfriend’s children.
The incident happened on Friday evening (May 12) in the city’s Morgan Park neighborhood, reports The Chicago Tribune. The women were seen in a verbal dispute by neighbors, but things took a drastic turn when 24-year-old Chynna Stapleton got into her Jeep Liberty and began chasing the woman in the vehicle.
“As soon as I looked out my window I saw a girl being rammed into the tree, and ran over and backed over and over again,” witness Brittnay Patrick said. “She hit my car, backing over the body and then backed back over the body and got away.”
Lewis, who is the daughter of a Chicago Police officer, was pronounced dead at the scene. Friends of the teen claimed the dispute initially started on Facebook over the teen’s relationship with the father of Stapleton’s children. Lewis was reportedly dating Tyshaun Page who goes by “Ty Ty Montana” on the site. Lewis’ last post on Facebook read, “His bm says she’s pulling up, I’m on the block right now. Please don’t send me off.”
Stapleton was arrested and charged with murder after she was found a mile and a half away from the scene. The mother of three caught police attention when she was seen crashing into cars nearby. A medical examiner ruled Lewis’ death a homicide with multiple blunt force injuries to her body.
Friends created musical memorials for the teen on Facebook while community activists condemned the incident. “Now you’ve got two lives lost, the one that hit her and then eventually her life is lost,” Andrew Holmes said. “It was very heartbreaking to see that, and then just to see her laying on the ground helpless, you can’t really do nothing, but call the police,” Joneise Mayfield, another witness said.