CHICAGO (STMW) – A DanceWorks Chicago dancer died after a “freak occurrence” during a rehearsal Monday on the Northwest Side.
Marco Antonio Huicochea Gonzalez suffered a life-ending accident after a freak occurrence during a break in a rehearsal in the 5000 block of North Kimberly Avenue, according to police and the DanceWorks Chicago website.
The 22-year-old was holding the top bar of a steel acrobatic ring when it began to tip over and he fell, police said. The ring then struck him in the back of the head, police.
Gonzalez, who lived in the 6900 block of West Summerdale Avenue, died at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center at 4:53 p.m. Monday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
An autopsy Tuesday found Gonzalez died of blunt force trauma to the head from a falling heavy object and his death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office.
“We hope that you will keep Marco, his family, and his DanceWorks Chicago family in your thoughts,” a statement said on the DanceWorks site.
“We are all doing our best to work through this very sad and very difficult time and appreciate your respectfulness,” the statement said.
According to a DanceWorks biography, Gonzalez is from Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico. He joined the Chicago company last year after studying dance since the age of 11 in Mexico, New York and France.
Area North detectives are investigating.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
