Nearly a year and a half after a 31-year-old Wheaton woman was
killed in a hit-and-run crash in the west suburbs, a Batavia woman has been cited, Wheaton officials said in a news release Thursday.
Paige Donahue was hit and killed by a vehicle in the eastbound lanes of Roosevelt Road near Crest Street just after 8 p.m. Jan. 2, 2023.
The driver of the vehicle did not stop.
In recent weeks, Wheaton detectives had a breakthrough in the investigation, after receiving results from electronic search warrants and an advanced analysis of physical evidence left at the scene from the involved vehicle, the release said.
Police were able to identify the alleged suspect vehicle as a Hyundai Tucson and the alleged driver of the vehicle as Tarra Fiedler, officials said.
Fiedler gave police a statement with additional details surrounding the evening of Jan. 2, the release said.
SEE MORE: Wheaton mother pleads with public for more information about hit-and-run-crash that killed daughter She has been cited with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, and criminal charges will not be pursued, officials said.
"The Police Department is grateful to be able to provide some answers to Paige's family. Her family has suffered over the past year and continues to grieve to this day," the release said. "This incident has impacted many lives, including the good Samaritans who stopped to aid Paige, the responding Patrol Officers and Fire Department personnel who attempted life-saving measures, the investigating detectives who spent months diligently investigating all leads, and the thousands of community members who showed support for the tragic loss of this young woman. The Wheaton Police Department expresses our continued condolences to Paige's family and friends, and we would like to thank Paige's family and the community for their continued support throughout this investigation."
Donahue's mother described her as a happy person who loved to sing and dance as if no one was watching. She was supposed to be married in May of 2023.
The night she died, just two weeks before her birthday, the 31-year-old was wearing a bright pink jacket and was walking home after leaving a nearby 7-Eleven, police said.
Relatives said Donahue had epilepsy and was unable to drive, which is why she was walking.
Donahue was active in fundraising and was a fierce advocate for her community of "Epilepsy Warriors."
"They left her in the street like she was an animal. We don't know if she was suffering. We don't know if - nobody knows. Was she laying there? Did she need something? Was she in pain?" her mother Traci Palucci said after the crash. "What if she needed me? What if she wanted me because she was so scared?"
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