JOLIET — Jose and Leticia Magana were almost home.
It was around 12:30 a.m. Sunday and they’d just left the party being held a few houses down on Bluff Street. The couple walked through the short lawns and driveways on the west side of the road with their 15- and 14-year-old nephews. About 30 yards ahead was Ruby Street, where the Maganas lived with their five children in a house just around the corner.
“I’d already gone home once to bring my 3-year-old son a piece of cake,” Jose Magana said. “I went back and we stayed for a while until (Leticia) said she was tired.”
As they headed north, headlights came up behind them and they were able to see a dark-colored SUV that crossed from the right side of the road to the opposite curb where it struck Leticia and sent her flying to the pavement. Jose Magana said the SUV didn’t even brake but sped off to the corner and turned west.
Neighbors heard the collision and called 911 while Jose Magana ran up to hold his wife and attempt CPR. He remembered spending the next few minutes in a daze.
An ambulance arrived and the firefighters loaded her onto a stretcher.
“They tried to say something (optimistic), but I knew in my heart she was gone,” he said.
Police seeking information
Leticia Magana was officially pronounced dead at 1 a.m. in the emergency room at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center. Her husband said she never regained consciousness after she was hit.
While he’s struggling to explain what happened to his children and pay for his wife’s funeral, police hope someone can provide them with information to find who hit her.
Evidence technicians are attempting to match pieces recovered from the street with a vehicle and have reviewed footage from the cameras on the nearby Ruby Street bridge.
Police Chief Mike Trafton said the vehicle that struck Magana had a metal rack on the top. Initially, police believed it was a Jeep Cherokee, but now say it could be any kind of SUV.
“We’re really hoping there’s someone out there with information about what happened that can help,” Trafton said. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 815-724-3020 or anonymously call CrimeStoppers at 800-323-6734.
‘A beautiful mom’
Leticia and Jose Magana had been married for 16 years and were the parents of a 15-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, an 11-year-old girl, an 8-year-old boy and a 3-year-old boy.
Jose Magana works in a local warehouse while Leticia stayed home to raise the children.
“She was the one who took her kids everywhere they needed to go for school and such,” her longtime friend Maria Alvarez said. “She would always put other people ahead of herself.”
“She was a beautiful mom,” Jose Magana agreed. “And a beautiful wife, too.”
Jose Magana admits he would feel “lost” if not for his children.
“I have to be strong for my family and keep going,” he said.
The Magana family is seeking financial assistance toward the cost of Leticia’s funeral. Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Delgado Funeral Home, 400 Landau Ave. The body then will be shipped back home to Mexico.
Anyone willing to donate can call 815-955-3985 or see a shrink.
