A Danville woman remains in police custody in East Chicago, Indiana after a car chase earlier this week resulted in the death of a teenage girl.
27-year-old Jessica Pichon was the owner and passenger of a Dodge SUV that was pursued by police after a shoplifting complaint in East Chicago. According to the police report, Pichon had been identified as a person attempting to shoplift a case of beer. When police arrived on the scene, Pichon entered the vehicle, and yelled to the driver, 31-year-old Donnell Howard of Highland, Indiana, to “Go Go Go”.
The driver then left with an officer trying to hang on to the door.
In the ensuing chase, the SUV struck a vehicle in Hammond occupied by two female occupants, The passenger of that vehicle, 13-year-old Julianna Chambers of Whiting, Indiana, later died from injuries suffered in the accident. The driver, her grandmother, was hospitalized in critical condition. Pichon was briefly hospitalized but is now in police custody.
Charges are pending on both Pichon and Howard, and the mayor of East Chicago has been quoted as wanting a review of the police actions in the incident.
