Joliet Teen Jailed In Tricia Hoyt's Hit-And-Run Death

On Monday morning, family and friends of Tricia Hoyt gathered at a Catholic church in Matteson to mourn the loss of the 35-year-old mother who left behind two small children. Back in downtown Joliet, 19-year-old Eduardo Avila Jr. surrendered to authorities related to the November 5 hit-and-run that killed the Orland Park woman along a frontage road in Bolingbrook. Will County jail logs show that Avila, who lives in Joliet's 2300 block of Waterbury Drive, was booked into the detention facility around 10:30 a.m.

A warrant for Avila's arrest was issued on Thursday by the Bolingbrook Police Department. The defendant's family has retained Joliet criminal defense attorney Cosmo Tedone to represent him. On Monday, Tedone told Patch that Avila had been an excellent academic student over at Plainfield South.

"He is a good kid. He's 19 years old, has no criminal history and was on the honor roll and in the Advanced Placement classes at Plainfield South where he graduated," Tedone said. Last school year, Tedone said, his client attended Loyola University in Chicago. This fall, he has been attending classes at Joliet Junior College, Tedone said.

On Saturday night, November 4, Tricia Hoyt was in Bolingbrook attending a party. Sometime after midnight she apparently went for a walk by herself, along the dark and dimly lit stretch of frontage road. Several hours later, shortly before 11 a.m., Bolingbrook police were notified of a dead body along the roadway, an area not far from Interstate 55. Hoyt had died from severe injuries after being struck by a hit-and-run motorist.

Last Thursday afternoon, Bolingbrook police announced that Eduardo Avila, the Joliet teenager, was being charged. He faces felony charges of failure to stop after having an accident involving personal injury or death. He faces a second felony charge of failure to report an accident involving fatal injury or death. A $500,000 bond was set last week for the young man, who also works as a cosmetic consultant for Lancôme, his attorney said.

One charge carries four to 15 years imprisonment. The other carries a maximum punishment of three years incarceration. However, both charges also carry the possibility of probation, Tedone explained.

During Monday's Patch interview, Tedone said he wanted to convey "a deep regret" regarding the hit-and-run fatality. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim's family," he said. "We just want to make sure that our client gets a due process in the court system."

Tedone said it's his understanding that Avila was driving home "from a friend's house. He was not at a bar," Tedone stressed.

RELATED: Joliet Teen Charged In Bolingbrook Hit-And-Run

Last week, Patch asked the Bolingbrook Police Department whether alcohol or drugs were deemed to be factors in the hit-and-run crash that killed Hoyt.

"Avila was not at the gathering and was just driving through the area. He has not been charged with any alcohol related offenses," Bolingbrook police officials responded.

Also, last week, Bolingbrook police announced they had impounded Avila's 2002 Honda Accord.

"He fully cooperated with them, and he came down to the (Bolingbrook) police station to make a statement," Tedone said. "At that point, a warrant was put out for him.

"His life has been forever changed, (but) it does not excuse him for not reporting it. He was probably a scared kid. It was a dark area."

As the case unfolds at the Will County Courthouse, the victim's family and her friends will surely want answers. Why would Eduardo Avila keep on driving back to Joliet rather than stop, pull over on the side of the road in Bolingbrook to determine who he had just hit?

If he was sober, why would he choose not to call 911 to summon help for the person he had just hit along the frontage road?

"I feel for the family. She was a mother of two," Avila's defense attorney said. "It truly was an accident, and two families are greatly impacted from this one particular evening."

Mugshot of Eduardo Avila via Will County Sheriff's Department, Image of Tricia Hoyt supplied to Patch