Lawsuit filed against man's estate for crash that killed Elgin woman
Relatives of an Elgin woman killed in a fiery crash last year in Wheaton by a man who authorities said was going 135 mph are suing his estate.
Brian Thunderkick, 62, of Warrenville was charged with reckless homicide and other felonies in a Sept. 30, 2017, crash in which he was accused of rear-ending a car driven by 22-year-old Erika Villagomez.
According to authorities, Thunderkick said he "floored" his black Camaro while heading west on Butterfield Road near Naperville Road in Wheaton.
Villagomez could be heard screaming while the flames engulfed her Honda Accord. She died at the scene, just east of Naperville Road.
Thunderkick also was charged with aggravated battery because he tried to run away from the crash but was held down by an off-duty police officer. His blood tested positive for barbiturates and DuPage County authorities conceivably could have increased the charges to aggravated DUI, a felony punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Thunderkick, however, posted bail and missed two court dates.
Police found him and his ex-wife, Laura Arns, also 62, dead in his Warrenville townhouse after Thunderkick's second missed court appearance in early February. The DuPage County coroner ruled their deaths were due to "self-inflicted combined drug and alcohol intoxication."
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Kane County in late May, seeks unspecified damages from Thunderkick's estate.
The litigation argues Thunderkick's speed and other negligent factors caused Villagomez's death, but it does not argue he was under the influence.
"(Thunderkick drove) at an excessively high rate of speed and drove his vehicle into the rear of plaintiff's decedent Erika Villagomez' vehicle, causing her vehicle to burst into flames," read part of the suit.
W. Randal Baudin, an attorney representing Villagomez's father, mother and sister in the lawsuit, did not return a phone message this week. It was unclear which attorney, if any, had been retained to represent Thunderkick's estate.
The case is due in court on Aug. 8.