Busy La Salle County intersection the site of a fatal crash

Two young women are dead after a crash at a dangerous northeast La Salle County intersection.

Twenty-three-year-old Jose Mendez of Woodridge was southbound on Route 71 north of Norway Saturday afternoon when he allegedly blew a stop sign and smashed into an eastbound car on Route 52 driven by 22-year-old Chanille Woods-Vallery of Harvey. Woods-Vallery was pronounced dead at the scene while her 21-year-old passenger Gabrielle Gibson of Matteson died at OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa. A second passenger, 20-year-old Leanna Webb of Chicago was also taken to the hospital in Ottawa.

Mendez meanwhile was taken to Valley West Hospital in Sandwich along with his passengers, 21-year-old Luis Mendez and a 13-year-old girl both from Woodridge.

Jose Mendez was ticketed for disobeying a traffic control device. The crash is still under investigation by the La Salle County Sheriff’s Department.