At 4 in the morning on Interstate 88, Jonathan Rivera was heading in the wrong direction. Not lost, not slow — driving east in the westbound lanes of one of Illinois’s busiest stretches of highway near Sugar Grove. On the other side, Sariyah Watson, a 21-year-old college sprinter, was behind the wheel, her best friend Heaven Williams in the passenger seat, both heading back to DeKalb to see Sariyah’s mom for Mother’s Day. Rivera’s car hit theirs head-on at milepost 112.25. All three were dead before sunrise.
Rivera, 32, of Melrose Park, was alone in his vehicle. Authorities say he was traveling east in the westbound lanes when the crash happened, a catastrophic wrong-way drive that wiped out two young women who had done absolutely nothing wrong. Kane County Coroner Monica Silva confirmed that all three died from multiple injuries consistent with the force of a motor vehicle collision at that speed and impact. Toxicology samples collected from all three were sent off to a national laboratory — results that investigators say will likely fill in the remaining questions about what Rivera was doing on the wrong side of that highway at 4 a.m.
Illinois State Police shut down the westbound lanes of I-88 for hours after the crash as troopers and crash reconstruction specialists worked the scene. The investigation is still ongoing. Authorities haven’t released additional details about Rivera or what may have led him to be driving the wrong way. But the outcome of what he did is painfully clear — two families in DeKalb received the kind of news no family ever recovers from the same way.
Sariyah Watson had just competed at a college track meet two days before she died. She was a junior sprinter at the University of Illinois Chicago, known among friends for her relentless work ethic and her ability to make every room feel warmer. Her father, Antonio Watson, said she “lived life basically the way she would finish a race — with extreme determination and grit.” He added, painfully and quietly, “The finish line came too soon for her.” Sariyah had been on her way to see her mom for Mother’s Day — one of those ordinary plans that felt routine right up until it wasn’t.
Heaven Michele Williams, the 21-year-old passenger riding alongside her best friend, had her own life mapped out. She and Sariyah had grown up together in DeKalb, ran track together at DeKalb High School, and graduated together in the Class of 2023. Heaven dreamed of becoming a nurse. People close to her remembered her warmth as something rare — a genuine, unforced kindness that showed up every single day. A GoFundMe set up after her death described her as someone who “excelled as a caregiver” and “had dreams of building a career in nursing, dedicating her life to helping and caring for others.” That career never got started.
UIC, mourning one of its own, released a statement from Athletic Director Andrea Williams: “Our hearts are broken by this tragic loss.” Sariyah’s close friend and fellow athlete Mariah Gonzalez told reporters she had literally just raced Sariyah at a track meet on Friday — two days before the crash. “It’s just, like, crazy how life works,” Gonzalez said. “Anything can happen.” Another childhood friend, Raven Meeks, who had known Sariyah since infancy, organized a memorial balloon release at DeKalb High School for that Saturday. She wrote a public tribute that barely held together under the weight of what she was trying to say: “No matter what life threw at you, you kept going.”
Two GoFundMe campaigns are now running — one for Sariyah’s burial and funeral expenses, which had already surpassed $17,800 by Tuesday evening, and one for Heaven’s family to help with cremation, memorials, and costs nobody plans for when they’re 21 and just getting started. One man drove the wrong way. Two women never made it home. And a stretch of I-88 near Sugar Grove, Illinois, became the place where a Mother’s Day trip ended before anyone even knew something had gone wrong.
