1 dead days after Lakeview car accident, driver faces DUI charges

Jul. 22--A person has died days after being injured in a car accident caused when a drunken driver swerved into the path of the person's car's early Thursday in the Lakeview neighborhood, authorities said.

Jherrion Bates, 25, died Sunday at a local hospital where he was taken after the crash about 2:30 a.m. Thursday, according to police. An autopsy conducted Monday determined that Bates died from a pulmonary embolism following a blood clot he suffered after he received blunt force injuries to the right hip in the accident, with obesity a secondary cause. Pulmonary embolism typically occurs when blood clots form and travel to the lungs from the legs or other parts of the body, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Gerrik Birt, 29, was charged with felony aggravated driving under the influence and causing bodily harm as well as misdemeanor driving under the influence and driving without insurance, according to police. He also was cited for not staying in the driving lane, not reducing his speed and not having a license.

Birt was driving south in the 3500 block of North Halsted Street when he swerved around another driver and into the northbound lane, colliding head-on with Bates' Ford Fusion, according to a police crash report.

The impact from the collision forced Bates' car to hit a parked and unoccupied vehicle on the street. The front end of Birt's car burst into flames and had to be put out by firefighters, according to the report.

Birt, of the 2800 block of Cambridge Lane in Olympia Fields, was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized.

Bates, of the 6100 block of South Dorchester Avenue, was taken to the same hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Birt was released from jail Saturday on $10,000 bail.

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