A memorial walk has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday to commemorate Jaclyn Santos-Sacramento, the 5-year-old girl who was killed on Labor Day on Central Avenue in Highland Park when a car plowed into her, her mother and her two brothers.
The walk will begin at Highwood's Metra Station and will go to the 700 block of Central Avenue, where Jaclyn was walking on Monday afternoon moments before a Lexus coupe drove onto the sidewalk and into her and her family. The driver, an 18-year-old Highland Park resident, was charged Wednesday with driving under the influence.
Nearly 600 people have RSVPed to the walk on Facebook, including Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering.
"I'm a member of the community and I'm looking for an opportunity to start healing," Rotering told Patch on Thursday afternoon.
It's unclear who's organizing the event, but one person asked attendees to bring white, helium balloons to be released when the walk reaches Central Avenue. Though many people have expressed frustration on Patch and in other online sources about the slow pace at which the driver was charged and the investigation has been conducted (including the mayor), many of the commenters on the Facebook event page have made it clear the event is intended to be a peaceful gathering.
"This walk is to bring our community together, we are all the Santos Sacramento family," writes Tatiana Alonso-Melchor. "We are doing this to show the family they are not alone."
Check back later for photos from the walk.
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