Justice Pursued: Javier Contreras-Bulnes Charged Months After Tragic Hit-and-Run of Amber Knowles in Gurnee

In Gurnee, Illinois, authorities have filed charges months after a tragic accident that claimed a life, with investigators attributing the incident to distracted driving.

The deadly collision occurred in April 2025 at the intersection of Delany Road and Sunset Avenue, according to local law enforcement.

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Prosecutors allege that Javier Contreras-Bulnes initially fled the scene after the crash but returned later. They claim he was using an electronic device moments before the accident.

The victim, Amber Knowles, was a pedestrian at the time of the incident and tragically lost her life.

Last year, ABC7 covered a vigil held in memory of the 33-year-old, just days after her untimely death.

Family members described Knowles as a compassionate individual who was always ready to help others. She had been pursuing a career as a counselor, a dream cut short by the accident.

Police said the woman was crossing Delany Road, where there’s no light or crosswalk, when she was hit by a truck.

The woman was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. She was identified to the Lake County Coroner’s Office as 33-year-old Amber Knowles.

“I can’t even begin to imagine that this has happened,” Knowles’ sister Christina Kalter said last year. “It’s still not even real to me. I just talked to her.”

Relatives say she lived about a mile away from where she was struck.

At the time, police said the driver of the Ford E450 truck did not immediately stop after hitting Knowles but did return to the scene.

“So it’s not a hit and run crash, but instead had pulled off the roadway to a nearby business and realized that they had hit something and went back to the scene to speak with investigators about it,” Gurnee Police Department Det. Shawn Gaylor said.

Now, nearly a year after the crash, the driver, Contreras-Bulnes, is facing charges.

The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team assisted Gurnee police in the investigation.

No further information was available.