Loved ones mourn 2 friends killed, 2 brothers injured in West Garfield Park crash

A tightknit group of four longtime friends, two of whom are brothers, were on their way to a party early Saturday when their car collided with an SUV in West Garfield Park, leaving two of them dead and a third still unconscious days later.

“They were in Pampers when they met each other,” said Marshawn Shields, the sister of the two survivors, of the four. “They just liked to be outside celebrating life.”

Trevon Jackson, 20 and Calvin Hemphill, 23, were killed, officials said, and Shields' brothers Xavier Moore, 24 and Kyrian Moore, 28, survived the crash in the 4200 block of West Street, according to Shields and traffic reports obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Xavier Moore was behind the wheel of a 2007 Pontiac Grand AM driving north on Kildare Avenue when a 2021 Dodge Durango that was westbound on Lake Street crashed into them in the intersection about 2:10 a.m. Saturday, the report said.

When Shields arrived at the scene, she recalled family members frantically pulling her two brothers and their friends out of the overturned car.

“I had walked all the way down the street. I was crying, falling out and stuff, I couldn’t even really see what was going on,” Shields said.

Jackson was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where he was pronounced dead at 2:50 a.m., and Hemphill was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and died less than 10 minutes later, according to traffic reports and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A 25-year-old West Side man driving the Durango and a 26-year-old man who was a passenger were both initially listed in serious condition, also at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Xavier Moore, who suffered a dislocated arm in the crash, “broke down” when he learned the fate of his friends and temporarily left Mount Sinai Hospital to mourn with their families, Shields said.

Though Kyrian Moore, who suffered broken ribs, punctured lungs, a cut kidney and some brain bleeding, remains unconscious and on a breathing machine as of Monday, doctors told Shields her brother's condition had improved compared to when he was first hospitalized.

“We still waiting on him to wake up, hopefully he wakes up,” Shields said of Kyrian.

Shields was “happy and blessed” that her two brothers survived the crash, but “distressed” about their friends dying.

Xavier "was crying because they told him about his friends,” Shields said. “They call each other brothers.”

No citations were issued, police said.