A quiet late-night ride through Peoria turned into a parent’s worst nightmare this week. Seventeen-year-old Isis Horn was just riding along as a passenger, enjoying a late evening with an eighteen-year-old friend. A few minutes later, her whole future was stolen away in a split-second flash of twisted metal and shattered glass.
Isis was the kind of teenager whose bright energy warmed up every room she walked into. She had big plans, endless dreams, and a tight-knit family that adored her. At seventeen, her life was really just getting started. Nobody could have imagined that a quick trip down local streets would end in a brutal community-wide heartbreak.
The trouble started shortly after 1:20 in the morning on Peoria’s East Bluff. Officers tried to pull over a vehicle near Jefferson and Abington streets for a routine stop. But instead of putting the car in park, the driver slammed on the gas. The suspect car tore through the neighborhood at a terrifying speed, ignoring every rule of the road.
About a mile down the road, the fleeing car ran straight toward the intersection of Maryland Street and McClure Avenue. Isis and her driver were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The speeding car broadsided their vehicle right on the passenger side with crushing force.
First responders rushed to the scene and found two wrecked cars sitting in the dark with massive damage. When officers pulled Isis out from the passenger seat, she had no pulse. Emergency crews immediately started CPR, fighting with everything they had to bring her back.
Ambulances rushed Isis to the intensive care unit at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center. Her eighteen-year-old driver was also taken in with non-life-threatening injuries. Tragically, despite every effort by doctors and nurses, Isis was pronounced dead at 5:05 on Thursday morning.
Now, a grieving family is left holding onto precious memories while waiting for coroner answers and a scheduled autopsy. The Peoria community is wrapping its arms around Isis’s loved ones during this painful loss. Everyone is holding out hope that justice comes quickly for a young girl who deserved so many more tomorrows.
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