Dundee–Crown graduate killed in Lake in the Hills pedestrian crash

LAKE IN THE HILLS – A Lake in the Hills teen whose life was cut short Monday will be remembered as a do-gooder who always had a smile on her face, her family said.

Emily Weyers, 18, was struck and seriously injured by a vehicle Monday night on Algonquin Road west of Oakleaf Road in Lake in the Hills, police said. She was taken by ambulance to Sherman Hospital in Elgin, where she was pronounced dead.

The teen was walking home from Joe Caputo & Sons Fruit Market on Randall Road in Algonquin, where she worked in the deli, said her brother, Joe Weyers.

“With the injuries she sustained, the doctors said there was nothing they could do,” said Weyers, 29. “I got the phone call saying she was in a car accident around 10 p.m., and by 10:30 p.m. the doctor came in and told us she was dead. Our lives forever changed from that moment on in a drastic way.”

Emily Weyers graduated this spring from Dundee–Crown High School, where she was involved in student theater productions, band and the color guard, said Chris Columbaro, associate principal at the high school. She also was a founding member of the LGBT Club and was actively involved in the Anime Club.

"Emily really soaked up the high school experience and developed great relationships with not only the students, but teachers and staff as well," Columbaro said. "Everyone knew of Emily and her work for the good. She always had a big smile on her face."

Emily Weyers was enrolled at DePaul University and would have been a freshman this fall. She planned to major in political science and minor in LGBTQ Studies. She also had a black belt in taekwondo.

“Emily was a free spirit and didn’t want to conform,” Joe Weyers said. “She wanted to make her own mistakes and learn from them. She wanted to be given opportunities and would never take them for granted.”

The youngest of five children, Emily Weyers was known as “pipsqueak” to her brothers, Matthew Weyers, 22, and Joe Weyers, 29, and sisters, Colleen Ingram, 27, and Anna Jones, 25. She was the daughter of Michelle and Tom Weyers.

“Growing up she was with us all the time,” Joe Weyers said. “She was everyone’s pseudo little sister and came to everything with us. She always wanted to be a part of the older siblings' crowd.”

Christian Nunez, an 18-year-old Carpentersville man, was the driver of the vehicle and was not seriously injured, according to authorities. He was the sole occupant of the car.

Lake in the Hills police did not release any information Tuesday about possible charges or citations being filed. The investigation is ongoing.

Counselors have been made available at Dundee-Crown to help students deal with the loss.

The funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 10307 Dundee Road in Huntley. The burial will be in the Algonquin Cemetery.

The visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday in the Wait Ross Allanson Funeral & Cremation Services Chapel, 201 S. Main St., Algonquin, and on Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church from noon until the time of Mass.

In lieu of flowers, the family requested that people donate to The Trevor Project, Friends of DCI and Fox Valley Helping Paws, three organizations that support Emily Weyers' passions.