A South Side man was killed and his 4-year-old daughter critically injured Monday night after a car jumped a curb and pinned both against a wrought iron fence on the South Side. The driver of the car was charged with two felonies on Tuesday.

Images: Hero Dad Send Us Your Pictures, Video

Joseph Richardson, 39, was walking with his daughter Kaniyah about 6:30 p.m. Monday in the 9500 block of South LaSalle Street when they were struck, according to a police Major Accident Investigation Unit officer. The accident was not a hit-and-run.

The driver of the car, Angelo Thomas, 32, of Chicago, was charged with one count of aggravated DUI causing a death and one count of aggravated DUI causing bodily harm, according to police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli. He will appear in bond court Wednesday afternoon, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's office.

Witnesses say he was driving erratically before the crash. Mirabelli said Thomas was also cited for driving without proof of insurance and driving without a license.

Fire Media Affairs spokesman Joe Roccasalva said Richardson and his daughter were struck, then pinned against a wrought iron fence by the car. Richardson grabbed his daughter just before the car slammed them into the fence, police and family say.

"He held the baby up to keep the car from destroying the baby, but it totally destroyed him," Richardson’s father, the Rev. L.V. Richardson, said Tuesday afternoon. "It’s hurt me pretty bad, but the Lord’s going to keep me moving on."

Richardson's wife said he would do anything for his children.

"He loved her very much," said Shirley Richardson. "She was very ... oh, she loved her daddy so much. It's a love that's not seen everyday."

According to witnesses, "the car was spotted driving erratically," News Affairs Officer Marcel Bright said. "When the car hit the curb and ended up on the sidewalk, the man shielded the child from the impact of the car and that probably saved the child's life."

Richardson, of the 11000 block of South Wallace Street, was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 7:13 p.m. Monday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

The girl was initially taken to University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital in "very critical condition," Roccasalva said. The 4-year-old girl was still hospitalized on Wednesday, badly injured in the crash.

Richardson was the father of three, two girls and a boy, all under 10. He was an accomplished musician, playing the piano and organ in choirs at Cottage Grove Baptist Church and Greater Revelation MB Church where his father ministers.

Copyright 2008, Chicago Sun-Times Inc.