(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A jury has awarded $10 million to the family of a woman killed in a crash during a high-speed Chicago police chase in 2017.
Stacy Vaughn-Harrell and her daughter Kimberlyn Myers were driving home after Myers sang at a performance in Indiana when they were hit by a car that was fleeing police and going about 50 mph through residential street in Englewood in June of 2017.
Vaughn-Harrell was killed and Myers suffered serious injuries, including a broken collarbone requiring a plate and five screws, a concussion and a lacerated liver, according to Zane Smith, an attorney for Myers and Harrell who worked on the case with lawyers Boris Samovalov and Stephen McMullen.
Vaughn-Harrell was 47 and left behind six children, three of whom are teens.
Myers and Vaughn-Harrell’s husband, Henry Harrell, sued the city and the Chicago Police Department. A jury decided that around $5 million should be paid to each of them by the city.
City officials didn’t return requests for comment.
Before the chase, police had pulled over a white Kia they believed was present during a shooting, though they didn’t know if the shots came from the car, Smith said.
A passenger got out of the car when it was pulled over, then the Kia sped off.
Police chased after the Kia in an unmarked car, with a marked car following, according to Smith, who contended this violated department policy requiring a marked car to lead a chase using both lights and sirens.
The Kia had run through four stop signs before crashing into Vaughn-Harrell’s car at an intersection.
Each of Vaughn-Harrell’s six children, including Myers, will receive money to compensate for their “grief, sorrow and mental anguish” and “loss of society,” according to a copy of the jury verdict.
Myers, who was 21 at the time of the crash, had been pursuing a music career and considered Vaughn-Harrell as her “mom manager,” Smith said. “When she died, Kimberlyn never sang again,” he said.
Smith said the money will help Vaughn-Harrell’s children with education, buying a home or other things.
“Obviously a mother can never be replaced,” he said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2023. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Related
Listen to our new podcast Courier Pigeon
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram