Driver of Corvette charged with killing woman while drag-racing with another Corvette in Chicago Lawn

Reckless homicide charges have been filed against the driver of a Corvette who was drag racing with another car in Chicago Lawn when he lost control and struck a woman out for a late dinner with her boyfriend, killing her.

Aaron Guerrero, 27, is also charged with aggravated street racing in the death of Shawman Meireis, 40, who was visiting Chicago from Florida and was killed a day before her 41st birthday.

Police say she was crossing the street in the 6400 block of South Cicero Avenue near Midway Airport when two Corvettes came racing toward her around 1:35 a.m. on Aug. 28. The cars were cutting each other off and weaving through traffic until the car driven by Guerrero hit a car and careened into Meireis, according to police and witnesses.

Meireis was thrown to the pavement as the crumpled Corvette came to rest near the corner of 65th Street. Witnesses said Meireis went in and out of consciousness until paramedics took her to Christ Medical Center, where she died.

Her boyfriend was seen grabbing Guerrero and throwing him against a street lamp. “You killed my girlfriend,” he said. “You killed my girlfriend.”

Guerrero told officers at the scene that he had been fleeing a carjacking. But the police report cites witnesses who said the drivers of both Corvettes were racing each other just before the accident.

Two witnesses told the Sun-Times Guerrero appeared to be “showing off” to the other Corvette driver. One witness said the two Corvettes, one red and the other blue, were both stopped at 63rd Street and sped off when the light turned green, cutting off drivers as they kept up with each other.

Guerrero, driving the red Corvette, changed lanes to overtake the blue Corvette and struck a Hyundai headed in the other direction and turning left at 65th Street, according to one witness. The red Corvette continued into a crosswalk and hit Meireis, police said. A paramedic told people at the scene that her pulse was faint as they placed her into an ambulance.

Guerrero was initially cited for obstructed front windshield and failure to exercise due care with a pedestrian in the roadway. But police at the time said the investigation was continuing.