GENEVA – Drugs and alcohol were in the systems of three teenagers involved in a deadly two-car crash, according to Wednesday's coroner's inquest hearing.
A coroner's jury ruled three of the four deaths in the Nov. 1, 2008, crash as homicidal after hearing testimony from police, coroners and grieving family members. In one of their rulings, they placed blame on one of the drivers in the crash, who police say was speeding, drunk and had drugs in his system when his car crossed the center line.
A car driven by Eric Silva, 18, of Streamwood, was seen about 12:45 a.m. driving 80 to 90 mph in a 55 mph zone on Burlington Road before his car crossed the center line, near Plato Road, and collided with another car driven by 19-year-old Marco Leon Jr. of Elgin, said Sheriff's Detective Kenneth Johnson.
Andres Solis and Christian Godoy, both 19 from Streamwood, were passengers in Silva's car. The three friends were on their way back from a party, Johnson said.
Leon was on his way to a friend's house after finishing a night at work, according to testimony.
Leon's mother, Yolanda Leon, held showed jurors a photograph of her son and held up a piece of burned, torn pants – clothing he was wearing in the crash.
She said it was all she had left of her son.
Crying, Yolanda Leon told jurors that her son was in college, studying to be a nurse. She said her life will never be the same, now that her oldest son was dead.
"This is a nightmare. This is our life now," she said.
When police arrived on the scene, Leon's car was engulfed in flames, with him still in the driver's seat, according to testimony. An autopsy revealed he died from thermal injuries, coroners said. Although he had no drugs or alcohol in his bloodstream, he has marijuana metabolite in his urine, meaning he had not done the drug recently, coroners said.
Silva was airlifted from the scene to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where he was later pronounced dead. Police said Silva's blood-alcohol level was 0.247 at the time of the crash, and he had cocaine and marijuana in his system. Other details about his death were not discussed Wednesday because he died in DuPage County.
Solis – the front-seat passenger in Silva's car – also had cocaine and marijuana in his system, and a blood-alcohol level of 0.11, coroners said. He died from blunt trauma to his body, coroners said.
His 15-year-old sister, Angelica, cried as she read jurors a letter written by her older brother who is away at college.
The letter explained that Solis was a "genuine, great person with a great heart."
Godoy had marijuana in his system with a blood-alcohol level of 0.19, coroners said. He died of trauma to the chest as the rear passenger in Silva's car.
Jurors ruled the deaths of Godoy, Leon and Solis as homicidal. For Leon's, they blamed Silva.
