Early Monday morning, a doctor at Loretto Hospital ordered food delivery through Uber Eats, prosecutors said, then went outside to investigate when he didn’t receive the meal despite the app showing that the driver arrived to the correct location.

The doctor found Daniel Figueroa on the ground in a pool of blood, his face matching the photograph of the delivery driver included in the app, prosecutors told a judge on Wednesday.

Cook County prosecutors charged Montoya Perry, 33, with murder and vehicular hijacking, alleging that she ran over the 28-year-old Downers Grove man after hijacking his van as he delivered food to the hospital on Chicago’s West Side.

During a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Figueroa’s family members grew tearful while the state laid out details of the case. Judge James Murphy ordered Perry remain jailed while she awaits trial.

“You ran over him basically like he was garbage and just left him there,” Murphy said.

Perry’s family attended as well, yelling to her as they entered the courtroom. Perry, whose public defender said the death was a tragic accident, hobbled into the courtroom on crutches and called out to her family, “I love y’all” as she left.

The emotional hearing erupted into a fight after the proceedings, with deputies sprinting out of the courtroom to intervene in a confrontation between the two families.

Figueroa’s father previously told the Tribune his son was the youngest, and a “good kid.”

During the detention hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pekara said Figueroa parked his van around 2 a.m. in the 5500 block of West Flournoy Street and went to deliver the food. Perry and two others then got into the van.

When Figueroa saw people inside the vehicle, he ran toward the van and grabbed the handle, Pekara said. Perry began to speed off, accelerating even as Figueroa clutched at the vehicle.

He fell, Pekara said, and Perry drove over him.

The events were captured on surveillance video.

Shortly after, the doctor came out, found Figueroa and called 911, according to Pekara.

Using license plate readers, police found the van in a park in Maywood, Pekara said, and arrested Perry after a chase. She tossed away the keys to the van, Pekara said.

“It’s quite clear that she poses a threat to the entire community,” Pekara said.

Perry has a long criminal history, which includes a seven-year stint in prison for aggravated robbery ordered in 2014. The punishment was to be served concurrently with terms for separate convictions for burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle.

In 2023, she pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon and forgery in separate cases and was handed down a three-year prison sentence.

In the gun case, Perry pointed a weapon at a woman she had a prior beef with while serving time at Logan Correctional Center, according to a police report.

In the the robbery, Pekara said, Perry pushed a woman to the ground and threatened to take her life if she didn’t hand over her backpack.

Perry’s public defender, though, argued for her to be placed on electronic monitoring and said her intent was not to kill. He said she is a single mother to a 16-year-old high school student.

But Murphy declined the request, saying that Figueroa was “just trying to provide for his family.”

“I don’t know if there’s anybody out there you don’t pose a real and present threat to,” Murphy said.

Figueroa, who grew up in Downers Grove, was just trying to make a living, his father, Carlos Figueroa, told the Tribune in a brief call Monday. His son had been a driver for Uber Eats alongside working as an Amazon delivery driver, Carlos Figueroa said. He was living in Downers Grove with his girlfriend and her son, whom he had thought of as his own.

A Loretto spokesperson in an emailed statement said, “We are aware of the tragic incident.”

“On behalf of Loretto Hospital, our prayers and condolences go out to the individual’s family and loved ones,” the statement read. “Our focus remains on supporting the safety, health, and well-being of the community we serve during this difficult time.”

The hospital was cooperating with police as they continued to investigate, the spokesperson said.

An Uber spokesperson also issued a written statement saying, “We’re incredibly saddened by this tragic loss.”

Carlos Figueroa recalled going fishing and camping with his son. They used to cook Puerto Rican food together, too. He said his son was trying to perfect his Puerto Rican rice.

“I have three boys, and I have to bury,” Carlos Figueroa said through tears, “my youngest.”

His son was an aspiring tattoo artist, experimenting with small designs of fishing poles and fishing hooks on himself.

“Somebody took my baby away from me,” he said.

Chicago Tribune’s Caroline Kubzansky contributed.