A nine-year-old has died after a crash with a tractor in Whiteside County.
Around 10:25 a.m. on Saturday, October 5th, Whiteside County Deputies responded to a crash on Illinois Route 40 near Sterling, according to a statement from Sheriff John Booker. The deputies found that the driver of the car, a 45-year-old Milledgeville resident, was travelling east with a nine-year-old passenger on the route when she tried to pass a tractor that was pulling a grain cart. The driver hit the cart and the crash ensued.
The driver was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries, said Sheriff Booker. The nine-year-old passenger, Addison Headlee, was flown to another hospital in a more critical condition.
Sheriff Booker confirmed that Headlee had later succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead by the Winnebago County Coroner's Office.
The tractor driver, a 19-year-old from Chadwick, was not hurt, said Sheriff Booker.
The crash is still under investigation. Whiteside County Deputies were assisted by Milledgeville Fire and EMS, Illinois State Police, CGH - ALS, Medforce Air Medical, and Slim-N-Hanks Towing.