UI student dies in car crash

Katie McGuire was on her way back to her Chicago home Monday night to register to vote, but the 20-year-old was killed in a car crash on I-57 before she reached her destination.

"The biggest regret that I have is that she didn't get to do everything she wanted to do because she was so young," said Katie's sister Colleen McGuire, a 22-year-old University graduate.

McGuire, a junior in Media, was social chair of Alpha Delta Pi sorority and she hoped to go into event planning, her sister said.

"Katie wanted to travel the world," Colleen McGuire said. "She wanted to do the whole Samantha PR thing from 'Sex and the City' and travel the world and see everybody and get all these new experiences."

McGuire's aunt Margaret Richard said friends and family members gathered at McGuire's home as soon as they heard the news to comfort her parents, Nancy and Kevin McGuire.

"She was always the comforter and the counselor for her friends," Richard said. "It's hard to believe that we aren't going to have her anymore."

McGuire was heading home because she was not registered to vote on campus, Richard said. She was traveling with her friend Danielle Johnson, 21.

The 4-door Saturn was traveling north on I-57 between Clifton, Ill. and Chebanse, Ill. in Iroquois County when McGuire lost control. According to an Illinois State Police report, the vehicle crossed the median and collided with a car and a semitrailer traveling in the opposite direction at 11:08 p.m.

The crash occurred because McGuire was distracted by a cell phone, the report said. Iroquois County Coroner Bill Cheatum said McGuire was attempting to locate the phone inside the car when she began veering onto the right shoulder of the highway. Attempting to bring the car back into the lane, McGuire over corrected and the car went into the southbound lane.

McGuire was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the police report. Johnson was seriously injured and taken to Riverside Healthcare in Kankakee, Ill. The driver of the other vehicle and the semitrailer were not injured.

Richard said McGuire's parents were notified of her death at about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday by the Chicago Police Department.

McGuire's body was taken to the Kankakee County Coroner's office, where an autopsy was performed, Cheatum said.

Her funeral is scheduled to be held at the Smith-Corcoran Chapel in Chicago. McGuire's family is still planning the details of when her visitation and funeral will occur.

A candlelight vigil in McGuire's memory has been scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday on the Quad.

"She was an extremely intelligent young lady who's always done well in school; she was extremely self-motivated," Richard said. "She was a person who was going to excel at life."

McGuire's sister said the best way to remember Katie is to live life to the fullest.

"I think you need to cherish the time that you have with your friends and your family and never forget that life is so precious and that it could end any day," Colleen said. "By doing that, in a way you'll remember who she is and capture the spirit of what she was."