Wrongful Death Suit Filed After 2 Teens Die In 2021 Joliet PD Chase

JOLIET, IL — A Joliet police chase on the city's west side on Dec. 8, 2021 resulted in a fiery crash and two deaths when three people fleeing in a stolen car crashed into a large tree at Glenwood Avenue and Catherine Street. Now, a year later, a Chicago law firm has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Joliet Police Department.

The civil lawsuit at the Will County Courthouse also names as co-defendants Joliet police officers Ken Macejak, Justin Aloisio and Casey Killian. One plaintiff is Kamilia Streeter, on behalf of the late Kahleel Gaines-Streeter, who died at age 17. The other plaintiff is the only passenger who survived the crash, Montavian Jackson.

Attorney Matt Saltzman of the Chicago law firm Sherwood Law Group filed the lawsuit. "The Joliet Police Department has no comment at this time, due to the pending litigation. Please refer any further questions to the City of Joliet legal department," responded this week's Joliet police spokesman, Olin Torkelson.

A week after the crash, driver 18-year-old D’Shawn Amari Pierce, also known as “Deeds,” died on Dec. 15, 2021, at the University of Chicago Medical Center in Chicago.

Last year, Joliet police announced that one person was killed, and two young men were critically injured during the crash in the 1100 block of Glenwood Avenue. The three people in the car, which was determined to be stolen, were speeding away from Joliet police following a gunshot incident on the city's east side, near Cass and Collins streets, police announced at the time.

At the time of the 8:44 p.m. fiery wreck on Glenwood, the stolen car was traveling at high speeds without any lights on, according to police. The driver lost control and struck the tree, causing the car to catch fire and go up in flames.

The driver and front passenger were taken to St. Joe's hospital, and the backseat passenger was taken to Silver Cross Hospital.

Saltzman's lawsuit uses accuses the Joliet Police Department of 25 separate instances of negligence in causing Kahleel's death including: operating a police vehicle in a manner not conforming to the motor vehicle laws and regulations of the state of Illinois; operating a police vehicle without activating the lamps and therefore, failing to emit an oscillating, rotating or flashing beam directed in part toward the front of the vehicle and visible."

The wrongful death case against the three Joliet police officers also accuses them of "operating a police vehicle in an emergency pursuit, causing an accident and operating a police vehicle in an emergency pursuit in a residential neighborhood."

After the deadly wreck at Glenwood Avenue, Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English issued a press release informing Joliet Patch that "Officers terminated the pursuit out of a concern for safety after the driver continued traveling at a high rate of speed into residential neighborhoods without headlights."

The lawsuit seeks a monetary judgment of more than $50,000 for Kamilia Streeter, the special administrator of the estate of Kahleel Gaines-Streeter, and seeks another sum in excess of $50,000. The lawsuit on behalf of crash survivor Montavion Jackson also seeks more than $50,000 from Joliet police "and such additional amounts as the jury and the court shall deem proper and appropriate under the circumstances provided herein, inclusive of the costs of bringing this action."

The lawsuit states that Jackson "suffered diverse injuries, both internally and externally, of a permanent and lasting nature, which have caused pain in a body and mind ... the plaintiff has experienced loss of a normal life and the plaintiff was caused to expend large sums of money in endeavoring to repair and or replace property damage and or loss from said collision ..."