A Wilmette teenager has been charged in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash in Lincolnwood last month.

       Graham Weissbluth, 18, of the 1900 block of Birchwood Avenue, Wilmette, was charged Aug. 11 with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident involving death or personal injuries. The felony charge comes after the July 18 death of Marcia D. Morris of Chicago, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

       On July 18, Weissbluth was driving eastbound in a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV to a Lincolnwood restaurant to pick up food, police said. Morris was walking alone around 9:06 p.m. going westbound in the 3300 block of Touhy Avenue, near the Lincolnwood Town Center Mall, police said.

       “It did not appear she was trying to cross the street,” Lincolnwood Police Chief Jay Parrott said. “It appears she was walking westbound in the curb lane of the eastbound way of traffic and midblock.”

       After Morris was struck, police recovered two pieces of plastic from a car, according to court documents.

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       Weissbluth went home briefly and returned to the scene with his father, who asked about the incident at a restaurant, prosecutors said. The two then went back to their Wilmette home and awoke Weissbluth’s mother but neither contacted police, prosecutors said.

       “When you get involved in an accident with a fatality or personal injury you are obliged to stop at the scene,” Parrott said.

       Weissbluth sent text messages to a friend admitting to the crash and those messages were later recovered, according to prosecutors.

       On July 20, Weissbluth turned himself in at the Lincolnwood police station. Police examined the SUV, recovering evidence that included Morris’s fingerprints, prosecutors said. The two pieces retrieved at the scene matched Weissbluth’s car, prosecutors said.

       Weissbluth was later arrested and appeared in court Aug. 12. He was released on a $50,000 bond with a scheduled court date of Sept. 2.

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       Rick Friedman, an attorney representing Weissbluth, declined to comment.

       The charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

       Parrott said there are no additional charges expected.

       “There is no indication he was driving recklessly,” he said.

       Weissbluth, a high school senior, had been on supervision from a May charge of using a cellphone while driving.

       Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter.

       Wilmette teen charged in fatal Lincolnwood hit-and-run

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