The coroner has released the identities of an 11-year-old and 16-year-old, who were both brothers, after they were killed when a car crashed into a tree and caught fire in Lindenhurst.
The Lake Villa Fire Protection District and Lindenhurst Police Department responded around 11:37 p.m. Friday to the 1700 block of Grand Avenue for a single-vehicle crash with injuries.
Lindenhurst Police Chief Thomas C. Jones said a preliminary investigation shows an Acura TL sedan was traveling eastbound on Grand Avenue.
The Acura left the roadway east of Prospect Drive and struck a tree, resulting in a fire.
Lindenhurst police officers arrived on the scene and found the Acura to be engulfed in flames, Jones said.
Officers attempted to extinguish the fire. They also found four occupants trapped inside the vehicle.
The Lake Villa Fire Protection District arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire, Jones said.
Paramedics discovered that two of the victims had died at the scene from their injuries.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek on Monday identified those victims as Alonso Tiscareno, 11, of Wadsworth, and Antony Tiscareno, 16, of Wadsworth.
They were both brothers. Banek said autopsies performed Monday showed both boys died from blunt force injuries in the crash.
Jones said two other occupants from the Acura, a 20-year-old Beach Park man and a 20-year-old Zion man, were transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
The two men remain hospitalized as of Monday afternoon.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Maria Espinoza, who is the aunt of the Tiscareno boys, called the incident “a tragedy” and said that one of the surviving occupants in the car was a third brother of the two who died.
“My sister is devastated and needs all of our support,” Espinoza said.
She created a GoFundMe account to raise money for the family. The account has raised over $21,000 so far.
The Lindenhurst Police Department and Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) are investigating the incident. The roadway was shut down for several hours while MCAT worked at the scene.
Jones said on Monday that it is too early in the case to make any assumptions about what caused the crash or why the car left the roadway. “The team is working diligently on this.”
Officials are asking anyone with additional information about the crash to contact the Lindenhurst Police Department at 847-356-5400.