Driver accused in fatal Wheeling crash guilty on all counts

Two years and two days after Ralph Lewis drove the speeding U-haul that killed Corey Diamond and changed Elliott Cellini and Brandon Forshall's lives forever, Lewis' action got a name: murder.

Though his attorneys argued for a lesser verdict, it took a Rolling Meadows jury less than three hours Friday to find Lewis guilty of first-degree murder in the 2006 death of the 16-year-old Eagle Scout and Buffalo Grove High School student who played in the jazz band and the Expressions show choir band.

The verdict brought relief.

"It's been two really long years," said Corey's mother Melanie, who had tears in her eyes after the verdict.

"He got what he deserved and I'm glad," added Corey's father, Ed. "I think it was obvious he was guilty."

"It doesn't bring our son back," Melanie Diamond acknowledged.

"But at least there's some vindication," added Ed Diamond, calling it a "miracle more people weren't hurt" during Lewis' flight from police which began in Gurnee following a mini-crime spree at Gurnee Mills.

Prosecutors say Lewis used a phony driver's license to purchase merchandise at several stores, then sped away when a savvy Home Depot cashier spotted the fake license. Officers from Gurnee, Lincolnshire and Buffalo Grove police departments testified to Lewis' erratic driving and excessive speed, which Lincolnshire police clocked at 80 mph as Lewis drove south on Milwaukee Avenue. The pursuit concluded to the corner of Dundee and Schoenbeck roads in Wheeling, when Lewis ran a red light and crashed in Cellini's white Ford Taurus. Driver Cellini suffered a traumatic brain injury for which he continues to receive therapy. Forshall, who was riding in the back seat received minor injuries.

Family members and friends who had packed Rolling Meadows courtroom 109 throughout the proceedings, gathered just outside its doors after the verdict. There they cried, hugged each other and thanked assistant state's attorneys Tom Byrne, Karen Crothers and Steve Rosenblum.

"I was joyous, joyous to the point of tears," said Cellini whose injury makes him unable to shed the tears he felt.

The outpouring demonstrated to him that "all three families are loved by a whole bunch of people," said Cellini.

"It was a long haul," said Elliott's mother Allyson who responded with "tears of sadness, tears of joy, the whole gamut" upon hearing the verdict which could earn Lewis up to 60 years in prison on the murder charge alone.

The 28-year-old former Springfield resident was also convicted of unlawful restraint, aggravated battery and aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

Urging the jury to convict Lewis of first-degree murder in his closing arguments, Byrne described the truck Lewis was driving as a "five-ton missile" and compared his actions to firing a gun into a crowd.

Lewis became deadly "behind the wheel of that five-ton truck when he smashed his foot down on the accelerator," said Byrne. "This outcome, this carnage you were shown was practically certain to occur. Corey Diamond was an obstacle in his way, and he didn't care."

That a tragedy would result was certain, said Byrne, "the only thing uncertain was who and when."

In her closing statement assistant public defender Helen Tsimouris, said Lewis "is guilty of reckless homicide, but he's not guilty of murder."

"What happened that night is tragic and awful," she said. "(He's) guilty of being a thief and of running from police. He's thoughtless, careless and reckless, but he's not guilty of first-degree murder."

The jury, none of whom agreed to be interviewed, thought otherwise.

"We had 100 percent confidence from the beginning that this was first-degree murder," said Crothers.

So did supporters of the families.

"How can you quantify the support we've gotten over these two years?" said Ed Diamond.

"It affected our whole neighborhood, our whole community," said Melanie. "Sixteen-year-olds are not supposed to be killed and injured like this. It (the accident) changed so many lives."

By way of thanks, the Diamonds established the Corey Diamond Memorial Fund (coreydiamondmemorialfund.org) to "keep his memory alive and thank the community for its support and give back in a way that exemplifies who our son was as a person," said Melanie.

The group provides band instruments for middle and high school students unable to afford them. It also funds a music scholarship, Boy Scout Troop 140 community service projects and environmental programs at Buffalo Creek. The first fundraiser takes place at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 8 at Arlington Lanes, 3435 N. Kennicott Ave., Arlington Heights. Registration deadline is Aug. 1 (847) 255-6373.