Family sues man for 2008 hit-and-run death of Joliet woman
BY JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media jseidel@suntimes.com June 29, 2012 1:19PM
David H. McCarthy
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Updated: June 29, 2012 3:19PM
A Naperville man who admitted to a fatal 2008 hit-and-run after his guilty conscience got the better of him this winter has been sued by the victim’s family.
Maria Lech’s attorney, Frank Cservenyak Jr., filed the lawsuit Thursday against David McCarthy IV. It seeks more than $50,000 for the Aug. 7, 2008, death of her daughter, Melissa Lech.
The 20-year-old University of Illinois student was hit by a car while walking early that morning in the 2800 block of McDonough Street after leaving a Joliet sports bar.
The driver who hit Lech didn’t stop, and her family waited 3-1/2 years for someone to come forward. Finally Michelle Lech, Melissa Lech’s sister, said McCarthy rang the doorbell of her Joliet home Feb. 26.
Lech said her husband answered the door, but McCarthy insisted on speaking to her inside the house. She said McCarthy confessed at her kitchen table to running over her sister, but he left without giving his full name. So her husband wrote down the license plate number on McCarthy’s car.
Police arrested McCarthy at his home, and he’s been in the Will County jail ever since. He’s expected back in court Tuesday.
