Prosecutors Say 18-Year-Old Died After Being Ejected From Car During Drug Buy

Prosecutors say the 18-year-old woman from Worth found dead Friday evening died after falling out of a moving car during a drug deal. 

Brittany Wawrzyniak, 18, of Worth was found in the area of 115th Street and Beloit Avenue around 8 p.m. Friday evening. A death investigation was started by the Worth Police Department and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force. 

Police released very limited details about Wawrzyniak's death and the incident surrounding it in the hours and days after. Then on Sunday evening charges were filed against Eric Steven Johnson, 20. 

He faces a felony charge of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and is the only individual charged in relation to Wawrzyniak's death. 

In the complaint filed agains Johnson, prosecutors laid out what they believed happened the night Wawrzyniak died. 

They say that she got into the backseat of Johnson's car and then paid him $200 for 30 pills. After she was handed the drugs she started to count them when Johnson began to drive away, prosecutors alleged.  

Wawrzyniak then opened the car door and and was ejected from the car, hitting her head on the pavement, killing her, prosecutors said. 

Johnson's bail was set at $300,000 when he appeared before a judge on Monday. 

Wawrzyniak had just graduated from Shepard High School in May and was attending the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago.

High School District 218 released a statement after learning of her death. 

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Brittany’s family and friends.  It’s heartbreaking to lose a young woman who just graduated high school last spring.  Her life had only just begun,” the statement read. 

A candlelight vigil is scheduled in Wawrcyzniak’s memory at 7 p.m. Monday, at 115th Street and Beloit Avenue, in Worth.

Friends and family members have taken to Facebook to celebrate the life of the girl they describe as someone who "always took care of people before herself." The page has already grown to over 5,500 members.