Student Sues JCA For 'Vicious' Dog Attack In 2017

JOLIET, IL — The family of a former student at Joliet Catholic Academy has sued the high school, its priest, its campus minister and a host of others in connection with a dog attack that injured a student while she was delivering meals to senior citizens in August 2017.

Former Joliet Catholic student Anais Turiello, now 19, along with her parents Michael and Stacey Turiello, filed their negligence lawsuit this week at the Will County Courthouse. They are represented by Arlington Heights lawyer Jeffrey E. Martin of Martin Law LLC.

According to court documents, Joliet Catholic Academy offered Anais a chance to volunteer during the summer of 2017 in the Meals on Wheels service project.

She would be under the supervision of Rev. Jeffery Smialek and Melisa Ferro, the high school's campus minister, the lawsuit states.

Patch contacted Joliet Catholic Academy officials about the lawsuit, and they declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

On Aug. 11, 2017, Anais picked up the meals she was supposed to deliver from the Will County Center for Community Concerns on Glenwood Avenue. One of the meals was supposed to go a house in Joliet belonging to 83-year-old Barbara Machias, according to court papers.

The plaintiffs informed Will County's judiciary that "Ms. Machias had been previously cited by the Joliet police for negligent control of an animal ... As a direct and proximate result of one or more of the defendants' negligent acts and or omissions," the lawsuit contends, "while Anais was delivering a meal to 507 Irene Street, she was viciously and repeatedly bitten on her face by the dog owned by Ms. Machias."

Ferro and Rev. Smialek are named as co-defendants because they were in charge of organizing and supervising the service project and were supposed to ensure for the safety of the volunteer students including Anais, the lawsuit argues.

According to Martin Law, Anais suffered substantial injuries "and has required and will continue to require medical and surgical care to address her injuries."

She was 17 years old at the time of the dog attack, court documents state.

The lawsuit lists six instances where Joliet Catholic Academy is accused of being negligent including having "failed to properly investigate the safety of the homes where the student volunteers, including Anais, were to deliver the meals" and for having "allowed Anais to go to a home where the owner had been previously cited for negligent control of an animal."

The Will County plaintiffs are seeking a judgment against each of the defendants "in a fair and equitable sum in excess of the jurisdictional amount of $50,000."

Additional co-defendants named in the new civil lawsuit include: Will County Center for Community Concerns, Kankakee County Community Services and the Diocese of Joliet.