South Bend Community Schools mourning school cook after fatal crash

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- An early morning crash in South Bend killed one South Bend Community School Corporation employee.

It's a busy stretch of road with a lots of construction and lots of cars.

Monday morning's commute was shattered.

A car traveling Northbound crashed into 49-year-old Marilyn Butler who could have been heading to Jefferson Traditional Intermediate School where she worked as a cook. 

Police say she was not on the sidewalk as she walking South in the Northbound lane.

"I would still use sidewalks. I would not walk on Eddy Street, I would not do it at all," says Carol Dhoore.

Dhoore is used to walking in the area, having used to work at the Lee Insurance Group, directly across teh street. 

She sometimes also comes to football games held at School Field. 

"I've never seen anyone walking in the street except with a policeman or someone who's blocking traffic," adds Dhoore. 

Cars often whizz by, but police say the 50-year-old driver was not speeding or intoxicated.

Dhoore says this kind of accident is becoming too much of a tragic trend.

"It just seems lately every time you pick up the newspaper, there's some pedestrian being hit," she explains. "There's a lot of people who use cellphones and that's very distracting. We have a law to stop people from cellphones when they drive, but it's going to be hard to enforce."

South Bend Community schools are now mourning.

In a statement, they say:

"We tragically lost a member of our Jefferson Bulldog family. Marilyn Butler, who died after being struck by a vehicle this morning. Ms. Marilyn served as a cook at Jefferson through a local employment agency. Our thoughts and prayers go out Ms. Marilyn's family coworkers, and friends during time of loss and grief." 

ABC57 News did reach out to FACT and SBCSC to see if the school safety zone lights were flashing and if there were police present to monitor traffic.  As of air time, there was no response.