Mayor Calls For Kim Foxx To Resign After Sixth-Grader's Death

OAK LAWN, IL — The death of a Simmons Middle School student has prompted outrage from Oak Lawn Mayor Sandra Bury and village trustees, who are calling for the resignation of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

Cire Robinson, 12, was killed Jan. 20 in a car accident allegedly caused by a drunken driver whom Chicago police said was nine times above the legal blood alcohol limit.

Cire was riding in a car with her father in the 4400 block of Cicero Avenue as they headed home after visiting a relative who had just recovered from COVID-19. They were hit head on by a Chevy Impala that had veered into the oncoming lane of traffic, police said.

The sixth-grader died of her injuries at Advocate Christ Medical Center. Her father was hospitalized with a brain bleed, but is said to be recovering.

The driver, identified by police as 27-year-old Daniel Regalado, of Chicago, was charged with reckless homicide with a motor vehicle, aggravated DUI causing death, and two counts of DUI. Prosecutors said Regalado had a blood alcohol content of .457, prompting a judge to quip that it was the “highest I have seen with an individual who is still alive.”

Two women riding with Regalado in the Chevy Impala were also seriously injured.

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According to court records, Regalado was out on bond in connection to three other felony charges at the time of the accident. In December 2015, he was charged with 17 felonies related to an attempted murder charge, but the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped the charges in March 2017, CWB Chicago reported.

“After a review, we concluded that the evidence was insufficient to meet our burden of proof as the weapon was proven to not be a firearm, and we were unable to move forward with the prosecution of this case," a Cook County State's Attorney spokesperson said of the 2015 charges. "The court granted our motion to dismiss this case and the charges against the offender were dropped."

Ridgeland Dist. 122 Supt. Joe Matise told village board members that he’s received many emails from residents about ways the community can support the girl’s family.

“Cire was an energetic, positive student whose presence in our hallway will be greatly missed,” Matise said. "The district staff is greatly saddened as well as outraged by such a senseless loss. There’s now a void in our school district family that cannot be filled.”

Bury said her office had also received an outpouring of responses by residents. She said the pendulum has “swung too far,” with a legal system “more concerned with the criminals than the innocent victims.”

“I’m very said to say this is not uncommon,” the mayor said. “I’m going to say it. No sane or caring person can look the other way and say this is okay and let this stand."

It's time for Foxx to resign, Bury said.

“This beautiful, young and innocent girl was riding in the car with her daddy,” Bury said. “She was slaughtered by a man who should not be out on the street with multiple pending felony charges [and] dozens of police reports. By turning our legal system into a sham, serious crimes have absolutely no consequences. And criminals know it. Innocent people like this beautiful girl are lambs for the slaughter.”

Regalado has two pending gun charges stemming from an incident in July 2018 that prompted a SWAT standoff with Oak Park police. Those charges include unlawful possession of a weapon and reckless discharge of a weapon. He appeared in a police booking photo with fangs.

In that case, Regalado bonded out for $500. Six months later, in January 2019, he was charged the manufacture and delivery of cannabis. He was given an I-bond on the cannabis charges, but was ordered to put up an additional $250 in connection with the weapons charges, court records said.

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“Kim Foxx has created a downward spiral of crime that is destroying our cities. She has dropped charges in tens of thousands of felony cases with charges such as murder, shootings, sex crimes and attacks on police,” Bury continued. “Cook County has [mobs] looting our cities because Ms. Foxx has made felony retail theft charges virtually impossible. We have surges in murder because violent thugs walk freely through the revolving doors of our courts.”

In the first 20 days of 2021, Chicago experienced 144 carjackings. A majority of those crimes were committed by people aged 15 to 20, and in one case as young as 13. A crew believed to be responsible for carjacking a BMW pulled off a spree of armed robberies of fast food restaurants, in which the suspects were captured on video pointing guns at employees and crawling through the drive-thru windows.

“There are no consequences for criminals, and it has to stop,” Bury said. “It’s time to start caring about the victims, the innocent men, women and children who live honest lives, pay taxes and work hard to just survive. Kim Foxx has to go.”

Trustee Tom Phelan (Dist. 6) said he was appalled when he read the news reports about the accident that claimed the life of the Simmons student.

“If we don’t start doing something at the local level it’s going to get worse. The fact of the matter is that the victims of these crimes are largely minorities which is the most maddening thing in the world,” Phelan said. “[Foxx] is a disgrace. She’s unapologetic. It’s time for her to be called to the carpet.”

After the meeting, Phelan shared that he planned to get a team together to start organizing a recall for the state’s attorney.

Bury said that she would push for village adjudication for cases that don’t get prosecuted by the state’s attorney’s office.

“I don’t want Cire’s family to suffer anymore,” the mayor added. “It would great to feel that this loss is not in vain, that something positive will come of it. It’s time for the pendulum to swing another way. We need to start caring for victims.”

~ Village of Oak Lawn

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