State's attorney dropped from false arrest suit in Riley Fox case

Former Will County State's Attorney Jeff Tomczak faced harsh criticism at the end of his public career -- that he tried to profit politically from a child's murder.

From the onset, Tomczak denied the allegation. But, as his day in court finally came, he was inexplicably dropped as a defendant in Kevin Fox's federal civil rights lawsuit.

Lawyers said Wednesday they reached a confidential resolution in which all claims against Tomczak were dropped. He still is expected to testify, though, in the trial.

The body of 3-year-old Riley Fox was discovered June 6, 2004, in a Will County creek, hours after she vanished from her Wilmington home.

Her father, Kevin Fox, was charged Oct. 27, 2004, with the murder after providing a videotaped confession that he accidentally killed Riley. He remained jailed for eight months until a DNA analysis excluded him.

The 30-year-old Fox and his wife, Melissa, never returned to their home. They now live in DuPage County, where they are raising their 10-year-old son and a 1½-year-old daughter.

The Foxes sued Will County and about one dozen law-enforcement officials alleging a variety of claims, such as false arrest and malicious prosecution. Both Tomczak and a jail deputy were dismissed from the suit Wednesday.

The other defendants include six sheriff's detectives, a polygraph examiner and a forensic interviewer. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Attorney Kathleen Zellner said police targeted Kevin Fox from the onset despite leads that suggested an unknown sexual predator abducted, raped and killed Riley.

Zellner said police never tested the DNA swabs of up to 21 registered sex offenders living in the neighborhood before arresting Fox. She said they ignored a report of a red sports car seen nearby.

Zellner also contends police coerced the confession during a 14-hour interrogation through threats and false promises that Fox would be freed on lesser involuntary manslaughter charges.

"This case is about an extreme abuse of police power," she said. "There are certain mistakes that are forgivable. Others are not. What is an unforgivable mistake is the fabrication of evidence against this family."

But defense lawyer Mark Smith said authorities had probable cause to arrest Fox even before he confessed. Smith said Fox was the last person to see Riley alive; his young son told a detective he saw Fox leave the house with Rileym, and surveillance footage from a service station showed a car that resembled Fox's.

And then there's Kevin Fox's demeanor. Fox called a police non-emergency number and hung up twice before calling back and asking for help in a relaxed voice. There was no forced entry to the home. The defense argues Fox failed a lie-detector test.

"They took their jobs very seriously," Smith said. "They did it honestly and to the best of their collective and individual ability. They will tell you they sought the truth and nothing but the truth."

The night before Riley's body was found, Kevin Fox and his brother-in-law, Tony Rossi, went to a concert in Chicago. Melissa Fox also was in Chicago for a breast-cancer walk.

At 1 a.m. June 6, 2004, Kevin Fox picked up Riley and his son, Tyler, at his mother-in-law's house and returned home. He placed Riley on the couch and Tyler on a chair, both in the front room. As they slept, Kevin Fox watched a pornographic tape and then went to bed. He awoke the next morning to find Riley gone.

Police said Fox confessed in the Oct. 27, 2004, videotaped statement that he accidentally bumped Riley's head on the bathroom door but panicked and tried to make it look like an abduction.

Tomczak charged Kevin Fox with first-degree murder and swiftly announced his death-penalty intentions, days before a Nov. 2, 2004, election that he lost to James Glasgow. Eight months later, Glasgow dropped charges after a DNA test excluded Fox.

His mother-in-law, Sandra Rossi, tearfully testified Wednesday about how her daughter, Melissa, dealt with her husband's arrest.

"My daughter never missed a visit (in jail)," she said, "and then she'd cry all the way home. She was totally devastated. She lost her daughter and then her husband."

The trial before U.S. Northern District Judge John Darrah continues today. It may stretch into next month.