Baby, Pregnant Mother Killed In Will County Crash Identified

CRETE TOWNSHIP, IL — A 29-year-old mother and her 1-year-old son were pronounced dead after a two-vehicle crash Monday morning in unincorporated Beecher. The woman and her three children were in a 2014 Subaru Outback when the vehicle was struck by a 2002 Chevy S10 pickup truck near Corning Road and Yates Avenue at around 8:38 a.m. Monday, police said. The Will County Coroner's office identified the deceased as Lindsey Schmidt of Beecher and her son, Kaleb Schmidt.

The other two children, boys ages 4 and 6, were transported to St. Margaret's Hospital in Indiana in critical condition, according to the Will County Sheriff's Office.

Lindsey Schmidt was pregnant with her fourth child and the family was on the way to summer Bible school at the time of the fatal wreck, relatives told the Kankakee Daily Journal.

Police said the pickup was headed east on Corning Road when it failed to stop at a stop sign, entered the intersection and struck the family's Subaru, causing the vehicle to leave the roadway and come to rest in a field. The Subaru was headed north on Yates Avenue prior to the crash and did not have a stop sign.

The male driver of the truck was taken to St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights with minor injuries, according to the sheriff's office.

As of just after 2 p.m., investigators remained on the scene of the crash. The roads were expected to reopen within one to two hours, police said.

"The Will County Sheriff's Office would like to extend our heartfelt sympathy and continued prayers to this family," the sheriff's department said in a news release. As of early Monday afternoon, the Will County Coroner's Office had not yet released the names of the mother and son killed in the crash.

The Will County Sheriff's Office originally reported the injured children's ages as approximately 5 and 9 and Caleb's age first as 3, then 2. The Will County Coroner's office has since issued a correction, saying Kaleb was 1 year old, on Monday afternoon.

ABC Chicago broadcast aerial video from the scene of the crash early Monday.

The fatal crash came weeks after another pregnant woman, 27-year-old Alexis Danley of Shorewood, was killed in a crash in Kendall County.