Oak Lawn crash victim's family protest driver's traffic ticket appearance, demand criminal charges
Oak Lawn police say Cusack was not impaired during the accident and did not commit any criminal act while driving
OAK LAWN, Ill. (WLS) -- Family and friends of Murod Kurdi rallied at a Cook County courthouse Tuesday to demand justice for his death.
Kurdi died after being hit by a car back in June, but the driver only received a traffic citation. Kurdi's family wants criminal charges in the case.
There were so many supporters present Tuesday that they could not all fit into the courtroom.
Kurdi was struck June 5 after getting out of his car in front of his home in Oak Lawn. The 28-year-old later died. The woman who hit him, Leanne Cusack, was given a traffic ticket.
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"There is no parent who should have to go through such a thing," said Fadia Kurdi, mother of Murod Kurdi. "Therefore, if justice is not served, this will and can happen again."
Both Cusack's attorney and Kurdi's attorney said Cusack admitted to officers at the scene that she had two drinks at a bar before the incident, and she declined to take a breathalyzer test.
"If the Oak Lawn Police Department has so little regard for human life that they let someone who killed Murod Kurdi go home at the end of the day, what does it mean for the rest of us?" said Muhamma Sankari with Arab American Action Network.
Cusack appeared in court Tuesday for the traffic violation of "failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident." Cusack was escorted out of the back of the courtroom and exited through a non-public entrance of the courthouse.
"They did make arrangements for something that is very disturbing for me," Kurdi family attorney, David Petrich, said. "They made arrangements for Leanne Cusack to not walk out the front door. They gave her special treatment."
In an update released by Oak lawn Police Department Tuesday evening, police said their investigation of the accident has now been concluded. Police said Cusack was not impaired during the accident and stayed on scene to speak to responding officers. In the update, police also said that Cusack did not commit any criminal offense while operating her vehicle, and the death of Kurdi was an unfortunate accident.
The attorney representing Cusack said Cusack has had death threats, and he said there was testing done at the scene by an officer.
"He saw there was a slight odor of alcohol beverage on her breath," Cusack's attorney, Robert Olson, said. "They gave her an HGN test, which is the horizontal gaze, to establish a jerking of the eyes. She passed that test. My client wasn't impaired. She didn't do anything wrong. There are two victims in this case."
The Kurdi family wants the Illinois Attorney General and the Cook County State's Attorney to investigate the conduct of Oak Lawn officers that day.
The family has filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Cusack.
Cusack is due back in court September 18 for the traffic ticket.
Illinois Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, Jennifer Cifaldi, issued a conclusionary statement on July 24 from the investigation of the incident:
"It is my opinion based upon my review of the reports that the officers involved did a thorough and comprehensive investigation by interviewing all of the witnesses and parties involved, securing a search warrant for the EDR on the vehicle, securing the recording of the surveillance cameras near the scene of the crash, reviewing the footage at the bar in which Cusack was at as well as securing a search warrant for Ms. Cusack's phone. I believe that the officers were correct in not arresting Ms. Cusack for the offense of DUI and that they followed proper protocols and procedures by utilizing the Traffic Crash Warning and noting her refusal on the form."
