An SUV crash at the YNOT after-school program in Chatham, Illinois, resulted in the deaths of four young people and injuries to six others on Monday (April 28). According to Illinois State Police, the crash does not appear to have been a targeted attack. The victims include three girls from Chatham—Alma Buhnerkempe, Kathryn Corley, and Ainsley Johnson, aged seven to eight—and an eighteen-year-old woman from Springfield, Rylee Britton.
The incident occurred when the vehicle left the road for unknown reasons, traveled through a field, and struck the building around 3:20 p.m. Central Time. Marianne Akers, the forty-four-year-old driver from Chatham, was not injured but was taken to a hospital for evaluation. She is not in custody, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Toxicology reports are pending.
The community of Chatham, a village located about ten miles south of Springfield, is mourning the loss. Counseling services are being offered at Glenwood Middle School, and the Ball-Chatham School District has moved to e-learning for the day, canceling all extracurricular activities.
Chatham Village President David Kimsey expressed his condolences, stating, “Words fail in a time of tragedy and it becomes impossible to gather coherent thoughts in the midst of such loss.” Governor JB Pritzker also shared his sympathies, emphasizing the unimaginable grief faced by the families affected.
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