12-Year-Old Oak Lawn Girl Killed By Drunken Driver In Crash: Cops

CHICAGO — A 12-year-old Oak Lawn girl was killed in a car crash last Wednesday in the Vittum Park neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest Side.

Cire Robinson was riding in a Cadillac Escalade with her father when Chicago police said a drunken driver hit their vehicle. Daniel Regalado, 27, of Chicago, was charged with reckless homicide with a motor vehicle, aggravated DUI causing death, and two counts of DUI. Prosecutors said his blood-alcohol content was nine times over the legal limit.

Around 9:35 p.m. Jan. 20, Cire and her father were traveling southbound in the 4800 block of South Cicero Avenue, when a Chevy Impala veered into the oncoming lane of traffic. Police said Regalado was behind the wheel of the Impala when it plowed head-on into the Escalade. A Rav-4 also hit the Escalade when it was not able to stop in time.

Several passengers in the Impala were injured, including a 21-year-old woman who suffered severe stomach injuries and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition. A 19-year-old woman was ejected from the Impala and suffered facial fractures and a broken femur. She, too, was taken to Christ in serious condition.

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The 40-year-old man driving the RAV 4 did not appear to have any injuries and refused medical attention. Regalado was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition with a dislocated hip.

Cire died of her injuries at Advocate Christ Medical Center. Her 51-year-old father suffered a broken foot and is recovering at Christ Hospital with brain bleeding.

The 12-year-old girl was a sixth-grade student at Simmons Middle School in Oak Lawn. Ridgeland Dist. 122 Supt. Joe Matise stated, “the Dist. 122 family is deeply saddened. Cire was a good student and an outstanding young lady.”

Regalado’s blood-alcohol level registered at .457, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said Regaldo had been driving 52 mph at the point of impact, according to news reports. He is currently out on bond for three felonies, including two gun charges, CWB Chicago reported.

In July 2018, Patch reported that Regalado was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and reckless discharge of a weapon stemming from an incident that prompted a SWAT standoff in Oak Park. He appeared in his 2018 booking photo with fangs. Regalado was released after posting $500 bond.

Regalado also has a pending case for felony manufacture/delivery of cannabis from January 2020. He was released on an I-Bond and posted an additional $250 for the pending gun charges case.

Regalado appeared from his hospital bed during a Friday court hearing streamed live on YouTube. Cook County Judge David Navarro remarked that it wasn’t often he encountered someone with a .457 blood-alcohol content that was still alive. Navarro revoked Regalado’s bond for the pending felony cases.

Regalado appeared before another judge on Saturday, and bail was set at $500,000. He told the judge he was being chased by some people who were trying to shoot him, CWB Chicago reported. Regalado is due back in court Monday.

Teresa Robinson, the girl’s mother, told ABC 7 Chicago that Cire wanted to be a world-famous artist when she grew up. Her father doesn’t believe his daughter’s death is real.

"I lost my beautiful, lovely, wonderful, friend, caring — just a really, really sweet girl," the girl’s grief-stricken mother said.

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