Outcry as TikTok livestreamer who allegedly hit and killed man asks for donations

A social media creator who allegedly hit and killed a pedestrian as she hosted a livestream and simultaneously drove through a Chicago suburb has been met with backlash after apparently soliciting donationsshe said were designed to support “mental leave”. “You know I don’t like asking y’all for shit, but if y’all … find it in y’all’s heart and y’all wanna support, my CashApp [account] is right there,” the woman said, according to a recording of the plea made to a restricted TikTok audience three days from the traffic crash that killed 59-year-old Darren Lucas. “If y’all wanna pour something in, y’all are more than welcome to do that,” the user added. TikTok users who saw the recording after it was shared outside the restricted audience reacted swiftly and unkindly to the request for assistance, as the online magazine the Root first reported. “CASH APP???? AFTER MOWING OVER SOMEBODY’S GRANDPA????” read one of the comments. “Wow despicable!!! She has no remorse!!!” read a separate comment. Another added: “This man is never coming back or ever seeing his family … again.” The uproar unfolded after Lucas’s death in Zion, Illinois. Lucas, of nearby Beach Park, was walking at an intersection when a motorist reportedly struck him, and he was pronounced dead at a hospital emergency room from blunt force injuries. Zion police department Lt Paul Kehrli later told the Lake and McHenry County Scanner that drugs and alcohol were not suspected of being factors in Lucas’s death, and the driver involved in the fatal crash – a 43-year-old Zion woman – remained at the scene to speak to authorities. Kehrli on Monday said to the Guardian that “no charges have been approved at this time”. He confirmed police became aware on Friday of a video that suggested Lucas had been hit by a driver livestreaming on TikTok at the time. He said investigators do believe the video is relevant to the investigation of Lucas’s death. But Kehrli declined to elaborate on who reported the video to investigators, or to make any additional comment, saying the case remained under investigation. The video in question surfaced in the form of a screen recording of a TikTok livestream that was published four days earlier. It showed user “Tea_Tyme_3” speaking at her phone before a loud thud prompted her to say: “Fuck, fuck, fuck … I just hit somebody.” As the Root reported, TikTok doe not allow drivers to livestream. Setting a customized background using the platform’s green screen function, however, can defeat that safety feature. Tea_Tyme_3 disconnected the livestream as a child asked what happened. Someone else questioned whether the driver was OK. That account has since been made private, and a biography section in which it was described as being from Zion had reportedly been deleted. Meanwhile, on 6 November, the account purportedly posted content in which the user known simply as Tea Tyme described not having her “mind … in full capacity”. She referred to “a lot of shit going on” that was overwhelming – and then touted what she called “a new album series coming out”. “Is she serious? A new album announcement after killing someone,” one particular user wrote in reaction to the recording. Authorities did not respond to requests for information from the Guardian about the driver they determined killed Lucas – and whether that motorist had been cited at the scene with any traffic violations. Lucas’s son-in-law, Chris King, politely declined comment, saying: “We will wait for the investigation to conclude and all facts have been determined.” Online profiles associated with Tea Tyme have said she also goes by the moniker Ty Nesha. And the profiles say she is a musician with an EP under her belt – TEAStimony – as well as the founder of a book publisher named Divine Oak Publishing. Illinois state records list the manager of the Zion-based Divine Oak Publishing – Tynesha McCarty – was dissolved in 2022. McCarty, who records show is 43 and from Zion, could not be reached for comment Monday despite numerous attempts.