Jocelyn Rios collapsed into tears as she approached the candles and stuffed animals and bouquets of flowers that lay near where her 15-month-old son Hermes was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Albany Park.
As she was held by relatives and friends, the boy’s father, Gerardo Cardona, knelt by the memorial at Pulaski and Wilson and bowed his head Tuesday afternoon.
“There was never a sad day for him,” Cardona said. “Even if it was raining, he would still be out there getting wet, playing. He enjoyed being alive.”
Eventually, the parents brought up Hermes’ two older brothers and younger sister. Then all the family members gathered and prayed.
Around 2 p.m. Monday, Cardona and Hermes had been picking up food at a restaurant nearby. When they left, Cardona put Hermes in the car seat of the family’s SUV and then got into the driver’s seat, according to police.
But the boy got out and wandered onto the road, walking in front of a pickup truck stopped in traffic and getting hit when the light changed, according to a police report. When officers arrived, they found blood on Cardona from trying to resuscitate his son.
The driver did not stop, and at least one witness wondered whether he had even seen the boy.
“I want justice for him,” said Hermes’ grandmother, Clarita Recto. “I’ve got three grandsons, I called them three kings and my granddaughter princess. Now he’s gone. I cannot believe it...my grandson is gone.”
Hermes’ uncle, Khalid Jordan, urged anyone with information to go to the police.
Jordan said his nephew was just christened Sunday, and he described Hermes as a momma’s boy. “There was hardly any time I saw him when he was not up on her hip,” Jordan said. “That’s pretty much all I can say about the young man right now without tearing up myself.”
The family has started a GoFundMe to cover funeral costs, but Jordan said they are really just asking for prayers and for the driver to step forward.
Police say they found the truck Tuesday after releasing photos taken by a camera at an auto body shop. They show a two-tone dark-colored Ford pickup truck with a ladder on a metal frame in the back. The driver of the truck has not been found, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (312) 745-4521.
Michael Cruz said he was sitting in a restaurant with a friend when Hermes and his father entered to pick up food. He remembers smiling and waving at the child and said the father was attentively standing nearby.
Cruz said he left the restaurant just before the family and was standing outside when the accident occurred. His friend immediately ran over to help the father, who was performing CPR, as Cruz called 911.
“I was scared to look at the boy,” Cruz said. “I knew he wasn’t going to make it.”
Cruz said the child was “tiny” and barely made it past Cruz’s knees. He wondered if the truck driver even saw the boy.
Joe Lucchetto said he was stopped in traffic when he saw Hermes and his father cross the street to their SUV. Lucchetto said he saw the father run back into the street and thought maybe the child had dropped a stuffed animal. He then saw the father pick up Hermes and hold him in his arms.
Lucchetto said he did not realize the child had been hurt until he saw blood and pulled over to call 911.
“It’s a sad story. It’s been stuck in my head all night,” Lucchetto said. “I was hoping that the kid would survive.”
