CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Plainfield Road Bridge over Interstate 294 in Hinsdale is the first bridge in the state to be named in honor of a civilian: Kelli Joy O'Laughlin, 14, who was murdered in 2011 by a burglar in her family's home in nearby Indian Head Park.
"The Joy we are feeling today with the naming of the Kelli Joy O'Laughlin Bridge is a joy that we will feel forever," said the girl's mother, Brenda O'Laughlin during a dedication ceremony attended by the girl's friends, family and state lawmakers.
"It isn't about the tragedy that happened to our beautiful daughter but about the joy that she brought to so many people during her short life," she said.
After the dedication, O'Laughlin said she's "feeling overjoyed," adding that her daughter would be speechless.
"To be able to put this on the bridge and be able to continue to spread the joy to everyone who goes through the state of Illinois it's going to be a wonderful thing, she said.
It has now been nearly eight years since Kelli's murder and since then her friends have created tributes with plastic cups pressed into the chain link fence on the bridge over the Tri-State.
Today it reads "With Joy there is Hope."
"Kelli said to me a few weeks prior to her passing, 'Mom, I have a lot of friends,' and I responded, 'I know you do,' to which she responded, 'No, I mean I really have a lot of friends.' As we can see by all the friends here today she continues to bring joy to so many and that is something that is so needed in today's world."
State Rep. Jim Durkin and state Sen. John Curran were approached by Kelli's friends, including Matt Tully, about a permanent memorial on the bridge near the family's Indian Head Park home.
"The outpouring of support from the community has just been insane. I mean, it happened in 2011, it's 2019 now. It's clear her impact has been great on our whole entire community," said Tully, who, along with other classmates, including Emmet Corrigan, formed a foundation, Not Your Father's Foundation, that has raised funds for various causes.
Kelli's classmates are now 22 and just out of college.
"We just wanted to do our own little part by picking it up and continuing the message of spreading joy," Corrigan said, "there's no way to put into words the impact she's had on our community."
The Lyons Township High School freshman had just walked into her family's home in Indian Head Park and was stabbed to death by a burglar, John Wilson Jr.
Wilson, who went on to taunt her mother sending texts from the girl's phone, was sentenced to 160 years in prison.
