Arlington Heights mom recalls scene of son's fatal accident

Muffled sniffles accompanied a poised Melanie Diamond Tuesday as she quietly described for a Cook County courtroom a parent's worst nightmare.

Hers unfolded July 23, 2006, when a van ran a red light and crashed into the white Ford Taurus carrying her son Corey, killing him and leaving his friend, driver Elliott Cellini, with a traumatic brain injury from which he is still recovering.

Testifying Tuesday on the first day of Ralph Lewis' murder trial in a hushed Rolling Meadows courtroom packed with family and friends, Melanie Diamond recalled racing with her husband, Ed, and their daughter first to the crash site at Dundee and Schoenbeck roads in Wheeling, and then to Northwest Community Hospital where doctors tried for 40 minutes to revive the 16-year-old.

"We asked, 'Are you sure there's nothing more you can do?'" she said.

Then they said goodbye.

That the accident devastated at least two families is beyond question. The question before the jury is, was it first-degree murder?

Assistant state's attorney Karen Crothers says yes. Prosecutors allege the high-speed chase followed a mini-crime spree at Gurnee Mills during which Lewis used a false ID under the name Taylor Thode to apply for credit cards he used to purchase merchandise from Sears, J.C. Penney and PageComm Wireless. In her opening statement, she said Lewis acted recklessly without any regard for innocent lives when he led police on a high-speed, 30-minute chase, crossing over medians, barreling through red lights and driving like a "bat out of hell."

"These three boys never saw this coming," she said. "They had no idea a 10,000-pound bullet was heading straight at them. There's a word for what the defendant did, and that word is first-degree murder."

Assistant public defender Calvin Aguilar disagreed. Citing the "sad and unfortunate facts" of the case in his opening statement, Aguilar didn't dispute his client's culpability. But he did dispute the first-degree murder charge.

"All murders are homicides, but not all homicides are murders," he said.

Acknowledging that Lewis "may not be a man you'd want to invite to dinner," Aguilar insisted that Lewis never expected his actions would result in someone's death.

Observers passed each other tissues and offered reassuring hugs throughout Tuesday's proceedings. Wheeling Police Department evidence technician Brian Jacobson described the scene; Dr. Adrienne Segovia of the Cook County medical examiner's office testified to Diamond's injuries and cause of death; and Wheeling firefighter/paramedic Kevin Stenson said that after treating Cellini at the scene, he "was shocked to hear (Cellini) had made it." Other prosecution witnesses included Steve Swan, a former Sears employee who sold to a customer named Taylor Thode the refrigerator recovered in the van Lewis was driving. He identified Lewis as Thode, something that 21-year-old Daysha Freeman could not do. The former saleswoman sold five phones to "Thode" and agreed to have dinner with him. She found herself seated next to Lewis as he led police on the high-speed chase, making desperate calls to 911, but was unable to pick him out in court.

Dr. Charles Sisung, a pediatric rehabilitation specialist with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago who oversees Cellini's treatment, testified to his patient's injuries that initially left the young man unable to move, eat or speak. Upon his discharge in December 2006, Cellini could stand and take food by mouth. Intensive daily, inpatient therapy has been reduced to physical, occupational and speech therapy that Cellini undergoes on an outpatient basis three to five days a week, the doctor said.

"He's doing fairly well," said Sisung, referring to Cellini's physical state, memory and judgment, all of which remain impaired. But "he may never get to the point where he's independent 24 hours a day without some assistance" and will never return to his pre-injury state, Sisung said.

Asked by Crothers if Elliott will ever be able to run his own household, Sisung responded with an unequivocal, "No."

Some of the most poignant testimony came from Cellini himself, who approached the witness stand slowly but purposefully with the aid of a cobalt blue cane.

He described clearly and deliberately the injury that will affect him for the rest of his life: the injury that ensured he will never again drive, bowl, play softball or take the honors classes in which he excelled; the injury that robbed him not only of his independence but of his memories of his good friend, Corey Diamond.

Testimony is scheduled to continue today.