Edgar Roman [photo], was arrested by Chicago cops Wednesday after using his vehicle to strike and kill Zoraleigh Ryan of Chandler, Arizona and injuring her adult daughter daughter
A man was ordered held Wednesday for using an SUV to strike and kill a pedestrian and injure her daughter while they walked along a Chicago street.
During a bond hearing, Cook County prosecutors said they haven’t come up with the motive of Edgar Roman, 25, in using his vehicle to strike and kill Zoraleigh Ryan, 55, of Chandler, Arizona and injuring her 20-year-old daughter, Shannon.
Prosecutors said Roman struck the two women as they crossed a street with his SUV before circling back and striking one of them again, killing Ryan. Roman is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, filing a false police report and leaving the scene of an accident.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Zoraleigh Ryan didn’t like walking down Hubbard Street with her daughter late Monday night, so she decided to duck into a hotel and call for a ride.
Zoraleigh Ryan died at the scene on Monday after SUV driver Edgar Roman hit her a second time and dragged down a block without stopping
Mother and daughter were crossing Hubbard, about to enter the Courtyard Marriott, when they heard the screech of tires and saw a silver Ford Explorer racing straight for them.
Ryan was hit first, then Shannon. The SUV stopped and the driver got out and stood about 10 feet away from the victims as a bystander rushed to tend to the women.
The driver then he got back into the SUV, circled the block and came at them again.
The bystander was able to pull the Shannon clear, but her mother was struck again and dragged down the block.
Zoraleigh Ryan died at the scene.
The SUV driver sped off, crashing into barricades as he eluded police, but he was arrested later in the night when he went to police and claimed the Explorer had been carjacked.
Chicago police work the scene on Hubbard Street, Monday night where Edgar Ryan ‘intentionally’ ran over Zoraleigh Ryan and her daughter, twice, and fled the scene to report his vehicle stolen
Edgar Roman, 25, appeared in court Wednesday charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. While Roman finally admitted to police that he hit the women, prosecutors gave no motive for the brutal attack as he was ordered held on $2 million bond.
Ryan and her daughter Shannon, from Arizona, were in town to attend her stepdaughter’s baby shower. The pair had just finished their dinner at Chicago Cut Steakhouse about 10:15 p.m. Monday and began walking back to their hotel, prosecutors said.
They wanted to stop at a 7-Eleven on the way, but it was closed because of looting damage. They decided to head for the Marriott and call for an Uber ride.
Roman was on nearby State Street, but as the women crossed Hubbard, he took off, made a U-turn and hit Ryan and her daughter, prosecutors said. Ryan was tossed against the curb, but was talking and able to tell her daughter and a bystander where she was injured.
![Zoraleigh Ryan [right] and her daughter Ryan [left] 1](https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Zoraleigh-Ryan-right-and-her-daughter-Ryan-left-1.jpg?resize=620%2C348&ssl=1)
Zoraleigh Ryan [right] died at the scene on Monday, but her daughter Shannon [left], who survived suffered fractured limbs and cracked ribs
After crashing his silver explorer during a police chase, Edgar Roman showed up at a police station on Monday night to report his vehicle stolen. He was arrested and has admitted he struck the women without giving a motive
Roman drove a few car lengths away and stopped. The daughter told the bystander to get a picture of Roman’s license plate number, but as he walked toward the SUV, Roman jumped into his car, sped down Hubbard and came back, engine revving as he headed for the women again, prosecutors said.
Roman ran over Ryan, dragging her body as the car accelerated over pylons on State Street, prosecutors said. The SUV dragged Ryan for about half a block, then ran over her again, prosecutors said. The daughter and bystander ran up to Ryan and held her head, but she “was no longer breathing.”
Roman apparently went around the block and drove north on State Street yet again — close enough for a witness to make eye contact with him, prosecutors said.
He drove off and returned yet another time, at which point police were arriving and the witness pointed out Roman’s SUV.
Cops saw the Explorer “driving erratically” on Grand Avenue not long afterward.
They tried pulling it over, but the driver drove through a construction barricade, then got stuck trying to drive through a second barricade, prosecutors said.
The SUV hit the barricades so hard, the front hood fell off, according to police.
Officers got out of their car with weapons drawn, but Roman made a three-point turn and sped off, prosecutors said. About 11:20 p.m., Roman entered the Albany Park District Station and told police he had been carjacked, prosecutors said.
The SUV was found, “heavily damaged,” not far away – Roman was arrested.
He told police he was carjacked by two armed men who forced him to drive around at gunpoint, Ultimately he admitted that he hit the two women.
The entire incident was caught on police cameras and surveillance video from buildings on Hubbard Street, prosecutors said.
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