Wrongful death suit filed in Oak Brook crash
The family of an Aurora man killed in a one-car rollover crash near Oak Brook has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the alleged driver.
Samuel Sanchez Jr., 29, died Nov. 13 after being thrown from the front passenger seat of a 2006 Ford Mustang that veered off westbound I-88, slammed into a guardrail, and rolled over, according to the complaint. The crash happened about 5 a.m. near 22nd Street.
On Wednesday, Sanchez’s family filed a $100,000 wrongful-death suit in DuPage County court against 29-year-old Eric Amwoza of Aurora. The complaint accuses Amwoza of speeding, failing to pay attention, failure to keep his car in “proper mechanical and working condition,” and otherwise being negligent.
Amwoza has not been charged criminally, according to DuPage court records, and he could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. Naperville attorney Mark Mathys, who represents the Sanchez family, said he is awaiting reports from the Illinois State Police investigation and accident reconstruction unit.
“That should include any alcohol results,” he said, adding that DNA results should confirm definitively that Amwoza was the driver.
The crash happened as the men were returning to Aurora from an unspecified location, Mathys said. Afterward, they both were taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where Sanchez was pronounced dead. Amwoza was treated for injuries that weren’t life threatening.
“It’s devastating to (Sanchez’s) family,” Mathys said. “His mother and two sisters had to bury him on what would be his 30th birthday.”
The lawsuit goes before a judge in March.