McHenry County jury returns record $7.5M verdict in wrongful death suit

A jury returned a record-setting verdict for McHenry County in a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday and awarded $7.5 million to the mother of a fatal drunken driving crash victim.

The four-day trial centered on the death of 26-year-old Steven Thomas of Richmond, who was killed in an
Aug. 10, 2016, crash.

Thomas was driving his motorcycle on Route 12 when 47-year-old Christian M. Heaney tried to make a left turn and crashed.

Heaney initially was uncooperative with police investigating the crash, police said. Heaney claimed to be an “important person in this town” and asked officers if they could just “make this all go away” and drive him home, police testified at a sentencing.

A blood test revealed that Heaney had a blood alcohol content of 0.260%, prosecutors said.

Since the crash, Heaney said he has attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and has struggled with remorse as a result of Thomas’ death.

In February, a McHenry County judge sentenced Heaney to five years in prison in connection with the crash.

Claims for medical bills, funeral bills, lost wages and pain and suffering were settled before the trial for $425,000. The last offer from the defendant was $400,000, while the last settlement demand from the plaintiffs was $2.825 million.

Thomas Popovich, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a news release that Thomas was an absolutely wonderful young man whose family was unbelievably close.

Although juries historically are frugal in such cases, a different strategy was devised for the trial, and the Thomas family is grateful to the McHenry County jurors who decided the case, Popovich said.

Damages were assessed at $3 million for the past and future loss of society for Thomas' mother, father and sister, in addition to another
$4.5 million for past and future grief, sorrow and mental suffering for the family, according to a verdict form filed Thursday.

The previous record for a McHenry County wrongful death suit is believed to be about $2 million.