Streamwood girl's bright future cut short

Strong willed and bubbly, Lilia C. Bueno, who went by her middle name, Carina, had a promising future ahead of her.

The youngest of five in a tight-knit family, she was on track to go to college. It was a goal no one else in her family had achieved, said Mary Baum, principal of Winston Junior High in Palatine.

"She was an independent young lady," Baum said. "She had an independent, fighting spirit. It's a huge loss, a huge, huge blow."

Bueno was one of two teens who was killed Monday night in a Long Grove car crash. She and driver Daniel Vicario, 15, of Palatine died when he lost control of the car along Cuba Road.

Martha Candia of Palatine knew Bueno all her life as her husband is Bueno's first cousin. Bueno was the youngest in the family of three boys and two girls.

"She was so loving, bubbly," Candia said outside the family home in Streamwood where many family members had gathered. "If everyone was down, she'd still crack jokes to make us laugh."

She'd accepted a ride from Vicario, who was going to drop her off at a Wal-Mart store so she could meet up with one of her brothers there to do some shopping, Candia said. Bueno was friends with Vicario since both had attended Winston. The family had recently moved from Palatine to Streamwood, she said.

"She was a beautiful girl," Candia said. "She had her whole life ahead of her. She could've been anything - a doctor or lawyer. Her life was cut too short."