Fundraiser launched for Venezuelan teenager killed in South Side scooter crash

Loved ones of a Venezuelan teenager killed in an electric scooter crash last week in Douglas have launched a fundraiser to cover funeral expenses.

Astrid Alexandra Carrillo Noguera, 17, was riding a scooter around 4:15 p.m. April 24 in the 3300 block of South King Drive when she was struck by a Jeep, Chicago police said.

She died shortly after arriving at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The driver of the Jeep, a 36-year-old woman, was cited for failure to avoid an accident.

“Astrid was truly the light of our home,” Astrid’s sister, Angelica Carrillo Noguera, wrote on the GoFundMe page. “She was the happiest person you could meet — always finding a way to make others smile, even during the hardest times. She had such a beautiful, vibrant spirit.”

Astrid was in high school and planned to attend Loyola University in the fall to study marketing and international business.

The family launched the fundraiser seeking support in covering funeral and memorial expenses. The fundraiser has raised more than $17,100.

Astrid was the second teenager killed in Chicago while riding an electric scooter this year.

In March, Violet Harris, 15, was killed, and a 13-year-old girl was injured after a driver hit the electric scooter they were riding in the South Shore neighborhood.

Violet, who was unresponsive in the street, was taken by ambulance to the University of Chicago Medical Center with severe head and chest injuries. She was pronounced dead within the hour. The girl driving the scooter got up after the crash and walked west on 77th Street to Jackson Park Hospital. Suffering from lacerations, she was transferred to the University of Chicago hospital.