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Driver Who Fatally Hit Pedestrian At CTA Stop Escaped Electronic Monitoring, Should Not Have Been Driving

CHICAGO (CBS)-- An arrest was made in a horrific crash at a bus stop where a man was struck and killed by a vehicle fleeing police.

Cook County Court records show the driver of the stolen Jeep, 30-year-old Leon Hearon, was on electronic monitoring and had gone AWOL just weeks before.

Hearon was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing a car in 2015. He's also a sex offender with a history of failing to comply with the Sex Offender Registration Act and was arrested in 2017, 2018, and 2019 for failing to register.

After the court-ordered him to electronic monitoring and on May 31, he went AWOL and was charged with "escape."

The Cook County Sheriff's office told CBS 2 the Electronic Monitoring Fugitive Unit was actively looking for him at the time of this tragic crash. A Cook County Circuit Court judge orders the offender to the electronic monitoring program.

Officials said their system does not use GPS, so "if an offender leaves home base they [officials] are notified but they don't have any way of tracking his or her location afterwards."

A fact that stunned the family of Michael Jordan, who was killed in the collision on Sunday at the corner of 99th and Van Vlissingen.

"It's just something that's an everyday thing it just seems like. It's just something that's becoming normal and no one's taking responsibility for anyone's actions," Candace Jordan, the victim's daughter-in-law said.

Meanwhile the family said they've had a hard time even confirming that their loved one was in fact the victim.

"It's very hard. So we're still kind of clueless," Candace said.

Jordan drove by the shattered bus shelter Sunday morning and immediately thought of her father-in-law, 68-year-old Michael Jordan, who waited there almost every day.

She stopped to make sure he wasn't involved.

"I asked the neighbor, and the neighbor's like, 'No.' She eased my mind, because it was a 27-year-old male," Candace said.

But then family didn't hear from Jordan and he never came home.

An early morning knock on the door turned out to be a detective who said their loved one had been struck and killed by a car at the bus shelter and they'd need to check in with the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

"I saw it all," Candace said. "It's very tough."

As of Tuesday afternoon, Chicago police still listed the age of the victim as 27.

The family is frustrated, confused, and trying to get to the bottom of the discrepancy.

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