At issue in Kane Co. trial, whether DUI crash merits murder charge

Hours after the car he was driving veered onto a Batavia sidewalk, killing a man and his dog, Edward Cook told police that "people make mistakes," but he would never intentionally hurt anyone.

"That's not my thing," Cook said. "I don't hurt folks."

The videotaped statement was played in Kane County court Wednesday as prosecutors began building a first-degree murder case against Cook, 25, who is accused of killing 57-year-old David Long of Batavia while driving a stolen car under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

Cook, an Aurora resident, told police he "blanked out" the morning of July 29, 2009, as he drove south on the 1000 block of Woodland Hills Road in Batavia after a night of drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana "blunts" to celebrate a friend's birthday.

In a mumbling and at-times incoherent interview, Cook repeatedly claimed he did not recall striking Long or Long's black Labrador mix, Shadow, as they strolled along the sidewalk about 6:40 a.m.

"I don't remember any of that," he said.

According to witness testimony, Cook was speeding in a white 2003 Acura he had stolen from a friend's girlfriend earlier that morning when he went off the road, striking two mailboxes and Long and the dog before crashing into the driver's side of an oncoming sport utility vehicle.

Long was thrown some 35 feet and died a short time later of blunt force trauma. His dog was killed instantly.

"He just plowed them over," testified Charles Abbott, 49, who was on his way to work when Cook crashed into his vehicle. "He was flying."

Another man, who was bicycling in the area and stopped to help, testified that Cook told him not to call 911.

"He said, 'Don't call. I'm OK," then trotted west from the scene on foot, said Roger Dixon, 62, of Batavia.

Cook, who was arrested a couple of blocks away after a brief chase, later registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.106 and tested positive for marijuana and cocaine, a forensic scientist testified.

Cook, who was on parole for a prior DUI conviction at the time of the crash, was indicted under a legal provision that supports first-degree murder charges in deaths that occur as a result of a "forcible felony" when there is intent to commit a second felony. In this case, prosecutors say, Cook stole a car with the intent of driving it under the influence and, as a result, Long was murdered.

Public Defender David Kliment cross-examined only a few of the state's 13 witnesses Wednesday and, in a brief opening statement, said only that his client should not be convicted of murder.

"The facts in the case and the law do not support first-degree murder," he said.

The bench trial in front of Judge T. Jordan Gallagher resumes today.