A Chicago woman was sentenced to four years on Sept. 1 for a fatal crash near the Illinois state line that killed her two passengers — including her younger sister — while trying to chase down another vehicle she said hit them.

Catherine Perez, 21, will serve 1 ½ years on Lake County Community Corrections work release, plus another 2 ½ years on probation, according to court records.

She signed a plea agreement July 27, which dropped her charges to reckless homicide, a level 5 felony.

Perez was charged in December 2019 with the Oct. 7, 2019, crash that killed Emely Perez, 17, her sister, according to police, and friend Mia Rodriguez, 18, her sister’s friend.

Police said Catherine Perez appeared to be “chasing or drag racing” another vehicle when they crossed the state line into Hammond from Chicago.

She ran several red lights before crashing her gray Buick LaSabre between 73 mph and 77 mph into the front end of a semitractor-trailer around 10 p.m. near Exit 0 on Indianapolis Boulevard and 108th Street, charging documents allege.

The other vehicle was not there by the time police arrived. A witness who ran to the car afterward said Catherine Perez told him they were “chasing a car that had hit them” and asked him to “wake Emely and Mia up.”

Both Emely Perez and Rodriguez died of blunt force trauma, according to the Lake County coroner’s office. Catherine Perez and the truck driver were transported to a hospital. The driver had no alcohol in his system, according to police who tested him on-scene. A third car was damaged by debris.

Police later found a picture in Emely Perez’s cellphone showing the Illinois license plate of a red Ford truck and a 12-second video showing Catherine Perez ran the red light before the crash.

Neither Lake County 911 nor the Chicago Office of Emergency Management Center had records of a call from Catherine Perez reporting a hit-and-run, road rage or reckless driving, documents state.

Police later concluded Catherine Perez did not brake before the crash.

Both Emely Perez and Rodriguez went to George Washington High School in Chicago. They were honored in October 2019 with a balloon release.