2 still in critical after crash

Autopsies will be conducted today on two of three men killed in a car crash near Huntley that critically injured two other men.

Kane County Coroner Chuck West said autopsies will be done to determine the cause of death on Ayush Joshi, 20, of Hoffman Estates and Zohair Husain, 18, of Huntley, both of whom were pronounced dead at the scene early Saturday.

Kumail Husain, 20, of Algonquin, who was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, died of multiple trauma injuries, according to an autopsy conducted on Sunday, Cook County medical examiner's office officials said.

The driver, Muhammad Jaffrie, 24, of Crystal Lake was in critical condition at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin late Sunday. He was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and for driving too fast for conditions, police said.

Henry Onwualu, 19, of Huntley also was in critical condition at St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford.

"Both of the hospitalized men are still alive, and our investigation is still ongoing," Kane County sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler said in a statement released Sunday.

The 2003 Infiniti G35 carrying the five men was traveling west on Dietrich Road, between Brier Hill Road and Route 20, just north of I-90, when it left the road and hit a tree around 3:30 a.m. Saturday in unincorporated Kane County.

Blood and urine samples were taken from Jaffrie and sent to the state crime lab to determine if alcohol or drugs were in his system at the time of the crash, Gengler said. The results of those tests were not immediately available but are part of the investigation, he said.

The five young men may have been headed to a truck stop on Route 20 in Hampshire where there is an all-night restaurant, Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti said.

"I think there is some indication that they were going to a truck stop in Hampshire on Route 20. I don't why at that point in time. There is an all-night restaurant, but we don't know the answer to that," Barsanti said when asked if authorities knew where the group was headed.

Ayush Joshi's brother, Piyush Joshi, said he did not know the exact details of what happened.

He described his brother, a 2005 graduate of Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, as "a brilliant kid." Piyush said his brother was not only an honor roll student in high school, but "a very good sportsman" who was heavily involved in running cross country and also was a member of the chess and congressional debate teams.

He joined chess as a senior, his coach recalls, and proved himself a good player and a nice kid who enjoyed himself and got along with everyone.

"He was good at everything," Piyush said.

He said his brother ultimately had plans to attend medical school.

At Huntley High School, where Kumail and Zohair Husain were students, the two were inseparable. They were known as polite and dedicated to their schoolwork.

Kumail graduated from Huntley High in 2006, and his brother followed a year later.

Onwualu also attended Huntley High with Kumail and Zohair.

About a dozen relatives of the Husain brothers gathered around the crash site on Dietrich Road Sunday, talking quietly, with some surveying the area on foot.

Large pieces of bark were missing from the thick tree that the car they'd been riding in crashed into.

Someone had placed a pair of red roses against the tree's deep scars.

Family members declined to comment and asked for privacy.

Ian Marlow, a friend of Zohair Husain, said he had recently renewed acquaintance with his friend at a carnival in Lake in the Hills.

"We talked there and we exchanged numbers, said maybe we could get together again. That was the last time I saw him."

He said he and Husain were in the same English class at Huntley High and also worked together at Sears in Crystal Lake.

Marlow said Husain was funny and outgoing. "He was the kind of guy who would be friends with anybody. He liked everyone. He didn't have any enemies. He got along with everyone.

"It's really too bad. It's amazing how quickly and suddenly things like this play out."

Neighbors of the driver, Muhammad Jaffrie, said he is friendly and hard-working, with a closeknit family.

He's "a very nice young man, very responsible, very personable," said neighbor Alice Babcock.

"I put him on my prayer chain at church," she added.

Toxicology report results for Zohair and Joshi should be available in about two weeks, West said.

It was not immediately known how many of the men were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, police said.