No bond for man charged with leaving the scene of a crash that killed 3 including sister

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - A man accused of leaving the scene of a fatal accident that killed three people — including his sister — on the Near West Side was denied bail.

Deanton Thompson, 24, faces seven felony counts in relation to the crash – four counts of leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death and three counts of reckless homicide, according to Cook County prosecutors.

Killed in Sunday’s crash were Thompson’s sister, Deseanell Thompson, 25; Damon Patterson, 27; and Jaron Patterson, all of whom suffered multiple injuries when they became trapped in the backseat of a Chevrolet Malibu when it caught fire, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Thompson and another woman, who prosecutors said was a witness in the case, were able to get out of the front seats, prosecutors said. The woman suffered two broken vertebra and will require future surgery.

Thompson and the woman who survived had been drinking earlier in the night before Thompson got behind the wheel of his sister’s car to drive the group to a party, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

After exiting the Eisenhower Expressway onto Sacramento Avenue at a “high rate of speed,” Thompson blew through an intersection, swerving into the opposite lane as other vehicles began to slow for a traffic light change, Murphy said. He then allegedly struck three parked cars in the 2800 block of Congress Parkway. A few drivers who witnessed that crash then attempted to follow Thompson.

Murphy said information from the car’s airbag control module showed that the Malibu’s brakes were never applied as Thompson sped into the intersection, going 53 mph in a 30-mph zone just before the crash.

Thompson was arrested shortly after in the 2000 block of West Congress Parkway after being identified as the driver who fled from a vehicle that crash, Chicago police said.

A blood draw at a hospital revealed Thompson’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.075 — below the 0.08 legal limit, Murphy said.

The other passenger who fled was released without charges, police said. Thompson’s next court date in the case was set for July 15.