Recently in Wrongful Death Category

A 35-year-old man was choked to death by a CVS store employee after shoplifting a couple tubes of toothpaste, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Anthony Kyser's death was ruled a homicide but police said they're treating it as "accidental" and won't charge the employee with a crime.

An off-duty Cook County sheriff's officer, who was armed, reportedly witnessed the strangulation and told Anthony Kyser to "stop resisting," a sheriff's spokesman told reporters for a Sun-Times update.

He was chased out of the store around 11 a.m. on May 8 carrying an unspecified number of stolen tubes of toothpaste and stopped by the unnamed employee in an alley.

Downstate in Belleville, the Associated Press reported on a $46 million wrongful death suit against ex-trooper Matt Mitchell for allegedly texting while driving 126 mph before hitting and killing two people. The 2007 wreck claimed the lives of 18-year-old Jessica Uhl and 13-year-old Kelli Uhl.

Illinois injury attorney Tom Keefe, representing the family of the victims, said the amount was justified because of the magnitude of the trooper's alleged negligence. Matt Mitchell pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and aggravate reckless driving and received probation, and then said he only pleaded guilty for fear he wouldn't get a fair trial.

This infuriated Tom Keefe, who was not involved with the criminal case:

"When are my clients going to get some justice? When?" "This case is surreal. You'd think at some point somebody would step up and take some responsibility."

Off-duty Chicago Police officer Cameron D. Karshna was riding his motorcycle on Touhy Ave. last year when he was struck by a car driven by Raymond T. Adams, as detailed by WBBM Chicago. A lawsuit filed by Mr. Karshna's father claims his son was unable to avoid the accident because of potholes in the street.

He is suing the city for more than $100,000 in a wrongful death lawsuit filed earlier this month.

Mr. Adams received a citation for failing to yield to oncoming traffic while making a left turn and failing to wear a seatbelt, according to police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.

No more information about the lawsuit was made available by local media. But this is hardly the first time an Illinois injury attorney has been called to help with a pothole-related legal action.

The St. Charles Sun reported on an Illinois Supreme Court decision allowing wrongful death lawsuits against a Chicago-area strip club for its alleged role in a drunk driving accident. An expectant mother and her unborn child were killed when a car driven by John Homatas crossed the center line and hit them head-on.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for driving under the influence and causing three fatalities. Mr. Homatas' passenger, 25-year-old John Chiariello, also was killed in the accident.

But Illinois injury attorney Craig D. Mielke, representing the family of Mr. Chiariello, now has the green light to help the deceased individuals' family members recover wrongful death damages from the strip club Diamonds Gentlemen's Club. The Illinois Supreme Court delivered its opinion in the case, Simmons et al. v. Homatas et al., on March 18 (PDF)

Deerfield residents Amy and Andrew Kingan received a $2 million settlement for the death of their 16-month-old son in the wake of criminal charges, the Chicago Daily Herald reported. Benjamim Kingan died from injuries suffered at the now closed Minee-Subee day-care center in Lincolnshire on Jan. 14 2009.

Chicago accident attorney Francis Patrick Murphy was able to secure the settlement on behalf of the Kingans even before filing what would have been a wrongful death lawsuit.

Mrs. Kingan plans to testify before state legislators with regard to pending legislation dubbed "Stop Abuse at Day-Cares." The settlement was secured on Feb. 24:

"We'd give everything we have to have (Benjamin) back. We're just looking for closure ... and to do something so that this doesn't happen to another family."

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Joshua Molina, 21, and wife Amy Alanis, 20, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the alleged driver of a vehicle that slammed into their car; killing the couple's 13-month-old son and two family friends.

Chicago accident attorney Tim Cavanagh, representing Molina and Alanis, told reporters that his clients still are in too much shock over the Feb. 1 crash. But he spoke to reporters on their behalf:

"This is way beyond a simple, ordinary mistake. This is what we call reckless conduct, defined as conscious disregard for the safety of others. This guy had no regard for the safety of others - particularly these guys in the back seat."

Those are the claims Cavanagh's clients have made against the unnamed defendant, who faces no criminal charges. The Cook County State's Attorney's office is still reviewing the case, according to the Sun-Times.

The Chicago Sun Times reports that Candice Williams, who was an honor roll student at Crete-Monee High School and pregnant at the time, claims her fetus died as a result of a security guard's violent actions in 2008. Security guard Marilyn Reid and the Village of Crete are named as defendants. 

Ms. Williams claims that after a workout with her track team on April 3, 2008, she was sitting on a bench inside the school waiting for a bus. Ms. Reid and another guard told her and some other students to leave the building. She says she walked toward the exit, but waited for her friends at the vestibule.

Ms. Reid again reportedly told her to go outside, but Ms. Williams allegedly said she was pregnant and it was too cold outside. A teacher told the guards that Ms. Williams was trespassing, but Ms. Williams refused to leave and off-duty police officers were called to the scene:

"The next thing I remember my face and chest was slammed against the wall of the vestibule and I was out the door," Ms. Williams said in the deposition. "I recall telling them [the police officers] I was pregnant." 

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the surviving family members of 10-year-old fifth grader Aquan Lewis, who committed suicide by hanging himself in a bathroom at his elementary school last year, have sued Evanston Skokie School District 65 for wrongful death.

Todd A. Smith, the Illinois injury attorney representing the family, claims that the district was responsible for the boy's safety and well-being during school hours. The suit alleges that the school district's administrators and teachers failed to locate Aquan Lewis after he went missing; he was allegedly found by a student 30 minutes later.

Chicago injury attorneys representing Natasha Williams say that the off-duty police officer who shot and killed her son, Corey Harris Jr., had acted recklessly and that the city is liable. Williams filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city for last September's shooting, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Harris, who was 17 years old, was a father and a star basketball player at Dyett High School. He was shot on Sept. 11, 2009, following a foot chase in Chicago's Park Manor neighborhood.

The off-duty cop, who was not named in articles about the incident, does not dispute the fact that he shot and killed Harris. But details surrounding the shooting certainly are in dispute.

A medical malpractice lawsuit against Little Company of Mary Hospital on behalf of deceased West Lawn resident Patricia Quirk was dismissed in return for a $7.5 million settlement (Sun-Times). Quirk died of a perforated bowel in 2004, which the suit claimed was due to a dangerously high dose of radiation.

Surviving husband Thomas Quirk would rather have his wife back, but the multimillion-dollar settlement is a Cook County record for a wrongful death suit of an adult with no minor children, the plaintiff's attorney told reporters.