On February 24, 2013, Karen Schafer was driving to attend mass at Holy Family Church in Rockford when a fatal crash occurred involving juveniles fleeing police. Earlier, three minors had allegedly been attempting to steal from vehicles in the church parking lot. A parishioner noticed the activity and called police, and a Winnebago County Sheriff’s deputy responded due to a reported string of vehicle burglaries in the area.
When the teens saw the deputy arrive, they entered a vehicle that had reportedly been stolen earlier that day and fled the parking lot at high speed. While driving down Alpine Road, they ran a red light at Alpine and Brendenwood and crashed into Karen Schafer’s SUV, causing the fatal collision.
Karen Schafer was 58 years old, worked as an obstetrics nurse at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, and was the mother of seven children.