Mariyah Ford spent the final day of her life celebrating her 20th birthday surrounded by family Sunday. Days later, her family struggles with her sudden death as they plan her funeral.
“I feel dead inside,” Christina Dennis, Ford’s mom, told the Sun-Times Wednesday morning. “We never experienced nothing like this.”
Ford and Tanisha Dennis, her aunt, were walking in the southbound lanes of Illinois 394 at Joe Orr Road shortly after midnight Monday because their car ran out of gas, authorities and family said. While they walked, a vehicle struck Ford and didn’t stop.
“It was just hard to see her go from smiling everyday to having to watch her body fly through the air,” said Tanisha Dennis.
Tanisha Dennis felt for a heartbeat and pulse on Ford and gave her CPR to keep her moving, she noted. One of the last things she told Ford was how beautiful she was.
Ford, of Sauk Village, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 2:48 a.m. Monday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. A Tuesday autopsy determined she died of multiple blunt force injuries from the crash, which the medical examiner’s office ruled as an accident.
“One minute she was there, then I heard the boom and then she’s gone,” Ford’s aunt said. “It just cursed my heart because she was doing so good. She had so many different opportunities coming her way.”
Ford’s family is calling for the driver responsible for her death to turn themselves in.
“I think it’ll help a little knowing [the driver] is locked up for what they did,” said Levi Ford, her father. “You might do that to someone else’s kid. You can’t stay out here for that.”
After graduating from Thornridge High School in Dolton in 2025, Ford spent the last nine months working at Five Guys and aspired to be a phlebotomist — someone whose main job is to draw blood from patients.
“She wanted to help people out, and that’s a good way to help everybody,” Levi Ford said about how his daughter’s career aspirations connected to her personality. “Everybody has to go to the doctor and everybody needs love and to be taken care of.”
Ford was living with her aunt and the two had a tightly-knit relationship built on acts of kindness and an eagerness to be there for one another.
For Ford’s prom, her aunt had a gown custom-made for her. When she began making her own money, Ford bought Tanisha Dennis a drill, sander and 10-by-20 tent to help support her art career.
“She’d buy me stuff just to show her appreciation,” Tanisha Dennis said. “She loved me so bad and I loved her even harder.”
Ford didn’t only buy gifts for her aunt, but spent money on several friends and family members around her.
“My own daughter was taking me out, like buying me stuff, even though I was telling her no,” Levi Ford said. “That’s one thing she’s always doing, [she was] looking out for other people too.”
Ford was passionate about cooking and often ate the soul food her aunt made “down to the last bite.”
The two frequently cooked together and Ford especially loved making and eating burgers. She was also a devoted Gordon Ramsey fan and enjoyed watching the Food Network.
Her family says Ford’s “shiny, chocolate colored skin” covering her 6-foot-2 frame was something she frequently was complimented on, and her “little bright teeth” always shone whenever she’d smile.
“She never wanted you to feel like you were alone, and that’s what I think people are gonna miss the most,” Tanisha Dennis said.