Channahon dispatcher's parents refile wrongful death lawsuit

The parents of a WESCOM dispatcher who died of a gunshot wound to the head in February 2018 refiled a lawsuit in federal court against a former Crest Hill police officer they claim killed their daughter.

Kevin and Heather Harer accused Felipe "Phil" Flores of killing their daughter, Samantha, 23, on Feb. 13, 2018. Samantha Harer was found dead of a gunshot wound to her head in her Channahon apartment. The Will County Coroner's Office ruled her death a suicide in December, but Harer's parents have been adamant that she did not kill herself.

In the newly refiled lawsuit, the Harers’ lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, detailed Flores’ troubled history and accused the Channahon Police Department of conducting a sub-par investigation, and even trying to mislead the family about evidence in an attempt to cover up a possible murder.

According to the lawsuit, Harer’s parents claim that Samantha was not suicidal in the days leading up to her death. They argued that while Samantha was “suffering from anxiety and sleep issues at the time of her death, she expressly told a medical provider that she was not suicidal.”

While Samantha had been in a relationship with Flores for nearly a year by the time she died, the couple had been arguing and her parents said he had been highly controlling. The lawsuit also details how on the morning of Samantha's death, a neighbor heard someone from her apartment yell, "Let me go," as detailed in police reports from that day.

In accusing investigators of trying to cover for Flores, the lawsuit said that over the past two months, the Harers have sought to have the physical evidence in the case independently examined. But, they alleged, the Channahon Police Department has declined to make the evidence available, despite the case having been closed.

The lawsuit pointed to evidence the Harers believe to be inconsistent with a suicide, including that gunshot residue was found on Flores while none was found on their daughter's body, as well as blood spatter found on Flores' clothing which, the lawsuit said, investigators failed to ask him about.

Attorney Michael Bersani insisted that Flores, his client, denied all the allegations against him, but said he was not prepared to answer specific questions about the matter. He added he would most likely be filing a motion to dismiss the case by the end of June.

James Murphy, the attorney representing the Village of Channahon, did not respond to a request for comment.