Illinois after-school camp crash: What we know about 44-year-old SUV driver Marianne Akers and the victims so far

The driver who killed four people and injured many others by crashing into an Illinois after-school camp has been identified by police as 44-year-old Marianne Akers, of Chatham. Akers is accused of crashing an SUV into the side of the YNOT after-school camp building in Chatham, before driving right through it and smashing out the other side, killing three young girls and an 18-year-old woman. Police said Akers is not in custody, and the crash is under investigation.

First responders work at the site of an SUV crashing into a building and killing students attending an after-school camp and injuring others in Chatham, Illinois, U.S., April 28, 2025 in this still image obtained from social media video. (Aarika Jo/TMX via REUTERS)

Who is Marianne Akers?

Not much has been revealed about Akers as of now, but police did say that “this does not appear to be a targeted attack,” according to the New York Post. At the time of the incident, she was the only person in the car but did not sustain any injuries.

Akers allegedly plowed her SUV into the YNOT after-school camp in Chatham on Monday afternoon, April 28. The four victims died from “multiple blunt force injuries,” the Sangamon County Coroner’s Office said.

Who were the victims?

The people who died have been identified as Kathryn Corley, 7; Alma Buhnerkempe, 7; Ainsley Johnson, 8; and Rylee Britton, 18. While the three young girls were from Chatham, Britton was from nearby Springfield, according to authorities. Three of them were hit by the vehicle outside the building, and one was struck inside.

Six other injured children were hospitalised, and one of them even had to be removed by helicopter. One of the victims remained in critical condition Tuesday morning, April 29.

Buhnerkempe’s mother, Billie Buhnerkempe, described her daughter as “a ray of sunshine,” ABC News reported. “She was sweet, outgoing, silly, and funny. She loved her friends and family fiercely. She loved playing soccer, basketball, and doing gymnastics. She loved to travel, and went to 17 states in her short life,” the mother said. “Her brother Will has autism, and she loved and supported him the only way a big sister could.”

Camp founder Jamie Loftus said in a statement, “I cannot gather the words to express much of anything that will make sense in print. However, I do know that our families who suffered loss and injury today, are hurting very, very badly. They are friends and their kids are like our kids. The Village of Chatham and Ball Chatham Schools are going to need their populations and that of the outside world to love them, pray for them, think of them.”