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Kane County Chronicle

Woman dies after being hit by car in St. Charles Wahlburgers parking lot

‘She will be remembered,’ Donnie Wahlberg says of late, longtime New Kids On The Block fan

The opening of the new Wahlburgers restaurant in St. Charles has been delayed until the end of the month.

A Minnesota woman died days after she was hit by a vehicle in a St. Charles Wahlburgers parking lot, authorities said Tuesday.

The crash happened at 12:58 p.m. on July 27 before a fifth anniversary party for the Wahlburgers location at 825 S. Randall Road.

St. Charles police reported the death in a news release on Tuesday, but did not identify the woman.

Kane County Coroner’s Office investigator Maureen Kelly identified the victim as Kelly Carlson, 49, of Blaine, Minnesota. Carlson died from her injuries July 30, authorities said.

Police and firefighters responded to the crash on July 27. Paramedics took Carlson to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, where she was pronounced dead three days later, according to the coroner’s office.

The driver of the vehicle, a 20-year-old St. Charles woman, is cooperating with police during an ongoing investigation, authorities said.

Kelly said preliminary findings from an autopsy conducted on Monday showed Carlson suffered skull and brain injuries consistent with a pedestrian crash involving a vehicle.

Kelly said a toxicology report is pending, which could take two to eight weeks.

St. Charles police encourage anyone with information regarding the crash to call 630-377-4435.

Kelly Carlson of Minneapolis, Minn. plays bags during the third anniversary of Wahlburgers in St. Charles on July 29, 2023.

Carlson was a longtime “Blockhead” (fans of New Kids on the Block) and supporter of band member and Wahlburgers owner Donnie Wahlberg, according to an Instagram post Wahlberg published.

Wahlberg and his wife Jenny McCarthy took to social media over the weekend, posting pictures with what appears to be Carlson and sorrowful tributes about her.

On Aug. 2, Wahlberg posted a picture of himself and Carlson embracing, captioned, “I often say ‘life is precious,’ and ‘tomorrow is not promised.’ We are reminded of this every day. [...] Today is, painfully, one of those difficult days.”

“Kelly was a Blockhead, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend and more. I got to know Kelly pretty well over the last few years, though she’s been around for a long time,“ Wahlberg said in the post. ”I can only trust that she is now on the greatest road trip of them all, with [god]. Following her heart, like she always did, on her way to being the same incredible angel in heaven that she was down here on earth. She will be missed. She will be remembered. She will be celebrated. It hurts, a lot, and it’s going to hurt for a long time. But I know that I will see that smile, and that gorgeous red hair, again.”

David Petesch

David Petesch

David Petesch is a news reporter for the Kane County Chronicle, focusing on St. Charles