Huntley couple sues day-care operator over child's injuries

A Huntley couple, as expected, refiled its lawsuit Tuesday against a former day-care operator they say severely injured their infant son while looking after the boy in 2005.

The suit, filed in McHenry County Circuit Court, seeks more than $50,000 in damages from Eva M. Walton for injuries it alleges she caused Dominic Schiola at her home-based Eva's Day Care.

According to the suit, Walton shook the boy, at the time 2 months old, while improperly removing him from a crib and changing his diaper.

Huntley police, which later arrested Walton in connection with the allegations, said the boy sustained more than three dozen rib fractures and a broken leg in the incident.

The boy's parents, Joseph and Joslyn Schiola, initially sued Walton in 2005, but dismissed the case in August 2007 in order to prevent themselves from having to give depositions as part of the civil court proceedings. Their attorney, Francis Patrick Murphy, said the couple worried that the depositions could interfere with the ongoing criminal case against Walton.

Although that case still is pending, Murphy said Tuesday that with a one-year deadline to refile the suit approaching, his clients had little choice but to go forward with the litigation now. The boy, he added, continues a full recovery from his injuries.

"On that front, the parents are as grateful as anyone could be," he said.

Walton, 34, of Huntley, faces a charge of aggravated battery to a child, a Class X felony punishable by six to 30 years in prison if she is found guilty. She has pleaded not guilty.

The criminal case has been postponed for more than a year while awaiting a three-day hearing on defense claims that a U.S. Secret Service Agent tricked Walton into making incriminating statements about the case under the auspices of a lie-detector test. That hearing now is scheduled to begin Aug. 19.