Police say the 28-year-old was dragged and struck by his own vehicle near Loretto Hospital.
CHICAGO — A 33-year-old woman from west suburban Maywood has been charged with murder and vehicular hijacking after authorities say an Uber Eats driver was killed during a carjacking on the city’s West Side early Feb. 23, police said.
Prosecutors are expected to argue in court on Feb. 25 that Montoya Perry should be held while the case moves forward, after investigators said Daniel L. Figueroa, 28, died during a struggle over his vehicle near Loretto Hospital. The killing has renewed attention on overnight deliveries near hospitals and late-night violence in Chicago’s Austin area.
Police said the attack happened in the 5500 block of West Flournoy Street, near the hospital campus, after midnight on Feb. 23 as Figueroa was making a food delivery. In an account shared by police and reported in local media, Figueroa had just delivered food to a physician when the physician noticed on a delivery app that the driver was still nearby. The physician then walked outside and saw Figueroa lying in the street, a police report said.
Investigators said hospital staff told officers that Figueroa left the building after the delivery and that video from the area captured three people approaching his vehicle while it was parked in a hospital turnaround. The footage then showed Figueroa realizing someone was trying to take the vehicle and jumping onto the passenger-side door, according to the report. He was dragged about half a block, police wrote, and was struck during the getaway as the vehicle fled.
Officers found Figueroa unresponsive in the street a little after 2 a.m. near Flournoy Street and Central Avenue in the South Austin area, according to reports citing police dispatch information. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead early Feb. 23. The Cook County medical examiner’s office said the cause and manner of death were not immediately known, and an autopsy was still pending further studies in the days after the killing.
Perry was arrested just after noon Feb. 23 in Maywood, and Chicago police announced the charges the next day. She is charged with one felony count of murder and one felony count of vehicular hijacking. Police have described the case as a homicide investigation tied to another forcible felony, and investigators have not publicly detailed what evidence led them to identify Perry or whether other suspects are still being sought.
Loretto Hospital said it is cooperating with the investigation and offered condolences to the victim’s family. Emerald-Jane Hunter, a hospital spokesperson, said in an email that the hospital was aware of the “tragic incident” and that its focus remained on “supporting the safety, health, and well-being of the community we serve during this difficult time.” Uber confirmed Figueroa was a driver for the company and said it had reached out to police and would assist investigators.
Neighbors said deliveries to overnight hospital workers are common, even in the early morning hours. Alexander Redd, who lives nearby, told CBS Chicago that third-shift workers often order food late and that the driver “was just doing his job.” Figueroa’s father, Carlos Figueroa, described his son as a good kid who was too young to die, and said the family wants the person responsible to be held accountable.
Perry was scheduled to appear at a detention hearing Feb. 25 at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, where a judge will consider whether she will be held while the case proceeds. Court records and prosecutors’ filings were expected to outline the state’s allegations in greater detail, including any surveillance video, witness statements, or forensic findings tied to the vehicle and the scene near the hospital.
As of Feb. 25, police and prosecutors had publicly identified Perry as the only person charged in the killing. Authorities have said the investigation remains active, with the next major milestone the detention hearing and any later decision on whether additional charges or defendants will be added as evidence is reviewed.
Author note: Last updated February 25, 2026.