St. Charles Teen Dies After Falling Off Vehicle in Marmion Academy Parking Lot

Photo credit: Marmion Academy website

AURORA, IL - A 17-year-old St. Charles boy is dead after he fell of a vehicle’s running board in a parking lot at Marmion Academy in Aurora Friday afternoon.

Stephen J. Woodcock, of the 4N 300 block of Booth Tarkington Street in St. Charles, died Monday at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. Woodcock, a student at Marmion Academy in Aurora, was airlifted to the hospital following the accident on Friday afternoon, according to an Aurora Police Department press release.

Police said the teen was riding on the vehicle’s passenger running board, which is a narrow step fitted under the side doors of vehicles, when the crash occurred. He was holding onto the exterior of a 2011 Acura MDX, which was being driving by Jerin Martin, 18, of North Aurora. Martin, of the 3000 block of Elleby Court in North Aurora, was traveling east in the north parking lot at Marmion Academy, traveling at about 10 mph, when Woodcock apparently lost his grip and fell backward off the vehicle.

Woodcock suffered a head injury and other apparent injuries, police said. He was initially treated at the scene by Aurora Fire Department Paramedics but then taken by heliclopter to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

Martin, who is also a Marmion student, has been cited for reckless driving.

The preliminary investigation, which is being handled by the Aurora Police Traffic Division, showed no signs of driver impairment, police said. 

“The investigation is continuing and other charges have not been ruled out,” according to the news release.

No autopsy will be conducted, according to the DuPage County Coroner's Office.

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