By TOM SCHUBA and MATTHEW HENDRICKSON
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Tatyanna Lewis | Facebook
What started with an argument on social media ended with 18-year-old Tatyanna Lewis, the daughter of a Chicago Police officer, fatally rammed by an SUV, and a 24-year-old woman charged with her murder.
Chynna Stapleton was charged Sunday first-degree murder for allegedly using an SUV to ram Lewis into a tree and run her over multiple times Friday night in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side.
Lewis, known to friends as “Tata,” was killed following an argument just after 11 p.m. in the 11400 block of South May, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Lewis was the daughter of a Chicago cop, police confirmed Sunday night.
Friends on Facebook posted that Stapleton was the ex-girlfriend of Lewis’ boyfriend, and the argument was over the man. About two hours before the incident, Lewis posted to Facebook: “His bm say she pulling up im on the block right nowwww please don’t send me off 😂💯.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay funeral expenses for Lewis, a nursing student.
Following the argument, Stapleton got into a Jeep Liberty, accelerated and drove up onto the sidewalk, crushing Lewis against a tree, community activist Andrew Holmes said. Holmes, who said he was working with Lewis’ family, said Stapleton then backed up the SUV and ran over Lewis at least two more times.
Chynna Stapleton | Chicago Police
Lewis, who lived in the Burnside neighborhood, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. An autopsy Sunday found she died of multiple blunt force injuries from being struck by the vehicle, and her death was ruled a homicide.
Stapleton drove off afterward, striking multiple vehicles before being taken into custody, police said.
Holmes said there was a young child in the back seat of the SUV during the “tragic event,” which stemmed from a feud on social media.
“A woman is dead and also a child will lose their mother,” he said.
Holmes encouraged anyone who witnessed the attack, or who took video of the incident, to contact authorities.
“It’s unfortunate that there might have been people there that didn’t try to defuse the situation,” he said.
The Eden Green neighborhood resident was scheduled to appear in bond court on Monday.