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Pregnant Woman, Unborn Child Die After Stickney Crash

STICKNEY, Ill. (STMW) -- A Southwest Side woman and her unborn child died Friday after the car she was driving was in a traffic accident in west suburban Stickney.

About 7:40 p.m. Friday, 24-year-old Brittany Switak was behind the wheel of a Pontiac G6 in an unincorporated area of Cook County near Stickney, northbound on Central Avenue near 50th Street, when her car struck a mailbox on the northeast side of the street, Cook County Sheriff's office spokesman Frank Bilecki said.

The car then spun around and hit a metal post on the same corner, Bilecki said.

Switak, of the 6500 block of West 60th Place, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where she was pronounced dead at 8:27 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. Switak was eight months pregnant, according to the sheriff's office and medical examiner's office, and her unborn child was also pronounced dead at Loyola Medical Center.

A Saturday autopsy found Switak died of multiple injuries and ruled her death an accident, according to the medical examiner's office.

According to witnesses and video surveillance in the area of the crash, Switak apparently was traveling at a high rate of speed when the crash occurred, Bilecki said. No other vehicles were involved and no one else was in the car at the time, he said. An autopsy will be conducted on Saturday to determine her exact cause and manner of death.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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