Crime and Courts

Ukrainian Village resident struck and killed by hit-and-run driver

Chicago police said Halyna Hudzan was in a crosswalk near Oakley and Superior streets when a driver making a turn ran her over and didn't stop.

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A faith community in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village is devastated after the wife of a former priest was killed by a hit-and-run driver. NBC Chicago’s Randy Gyllenhaal reports.

A faith community in Chicago's Ukrainian Village is devastated after the wife of a former priest was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

At St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral on Friday night, prayers were said for 66-year-old Halyna Hudzan, who was struck and killed on Friday. Hudzan was active in the choir and volunteered at parish dinners, friends and parishioners stated.

Chicago police said she was in a crosswalk near Oakley and Superior streets at around 9 a.m. when a driver making a turn ran her over and didn't stop.

"I mean, how do you not see somebody in the crosswalk, what are you distracted by?" said Phyllis Muryn Zaparaniuk of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Cathedral. "How do you miss somebody in a crosswalk? I just don’t get it...be it Mrs. Hudzan or any person."

The street lies in the heart of the Ukrainian community - near the church, the museum and a memorial for those lost in the war. Friends said Hudzan was walking to her job at a nearby Ukrainian bank when she was killed.

Originally from Ukraine – she and her husband, a priest, moved to Chicago and raised a family.

"She’ll be remembered for the work she did in the community, the warmth she extended to people," Zaparaniuk said. "There’s a lot that will be missed about her, the list is just too long to go out with."

Police believe the driver was traveling in a newer 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.

As of late Friday, no one was in custody.

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