Roselle school again mourns student

Students at Nerge Elementary School are mourning the tragic death of the second classmate in the past year.

Troy Evers, 8, of Roselle, died Saturday after being thrown from an SUV in what police said was a drunk-driving accident in Chicago.

In June, the Roselle school lost first-grade student Joe Fontana, who was shot and killed by his father, Mike Fontana.

"Troy will be missed, and our thoughts are with his family," Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 spokeswoman Terri McHugh said. "We've had extra counselors at the school since yesterday if students needed to talk."

Chicago police said Troy was a back-seat passenger in a vehicle driven by his great-uncle, Richard Gorney, 71, of Chicago.

Gorney had taken his 12-year-old son along with Troy out for pizza Saturday evening when he drove off the road in the 4500 block of West Bryn Mawr and hit a building, police said.

Troy was thrown from the vehicle during the 5:15 p.m. accident. He later was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston.

Gorney was charged with felony aggravated driving under the influence, reckless homicide involving a motor vehicle and aggravated DUI in which a passenger is under 16 years of age. Gorney, a former Cook County sheriff's deputy, was being held on $50,000 bond.

• Daily Herald news services contributed to this report