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Midway, West Lawn

15-Year-Old Bicyclist Dies After Truck Driver Hit Him On Southwest Side Last Week

Joshua Avina was biking across the street late last week when the crash occurred, police said. He's at least the fourth child a driver has hit and killed this month.

Joshua Avina was crossing the street at the 6200 Block of South Austin Avenue when a delivery truck driver struck him.
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CLEARING — A teenager from Garfield Ridge died from his injuries three days after a truck driver hit him Friday near Midway Airport, police said.

The crash occurred about 4 p.m. Friday in the 6200 block of South Austin Avenue, police said. Joshua Avina, 15, was crossing the street on his bike at the alley when a delivery truck driver heading south hit him, police spokesperson Steve Rusanov said, citing preliminary information.

Joshua was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition with a head injury, according to police. He died Monday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The 65-year-old truck driver was not cited, police said. Authorities said Joshua lived about 1 mile northeast from where the crash occurred.

Joshua is at least the fourth child a driver has fatally hit this month.

Ja’lon James, 11, was killed in a hit-and-run June 16 in the 3300 block of West 16th Street. Two toddlers were killed within a few days on the North Side: 3-year-old Elizabeth Grace Shambrook was killed in Uptown on June 9, and a driver hit and killed 2-year-old Raphael “Rafi” Cardenas in Lincoln Square on June 2.

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