Orland Park Man Gets 4 Years and 8 Months For Deadly Drunken New Year's Eve Crash Nearly 5 Years Ago

Nearly five years ago, on New Year’s Eve 2009, Nicholas Sord ran his Mercedes SUV into a pole, killing his 20-year-old passenger, Jessica Mejia.

Sord, 27, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for the deadly, drunken crash. He will get out in less than two and a half years.

Sord, an Orland Park resident, was driving with Mejia on 147th Street between Tinley Park and Oak Forest when he lost control and crashed.

Sord’s blood-alcohol level was 0.236 — almost three times the legal limit. Tests also showed he had opiates in his system, but his attorneys in 2012 were successfully able to show he was taking a prescription drug, hydrocodone, on doctor’s orders.

Sord’s attorney has argued that Mejia, a New Lenox resident and graduate of Lincoln-Way Central High School, distracted him and that’s why he lost control of the vehicle.

Sord pleaded guilty to a drunken driving charge in October. He had also been charged with reckless homicide.

Sord and Mejia had broken up in August of 2009 before she entered college at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Sord told Cook County sheriff’s investigators that he was out drinking with friends before he went to Mejia’s home that night and picked her up. He said they were headed to his house.

Mejia’s family filed a civil lawsuit against Sord and his family. He’s the son of restaurateur and developer Bryan Sord. The Mejias also filed a lawsuit against the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, accusing deputies of taking nude photos of Mejia by the side of the road. The family also filed suit against several bars where Sord was drinking.

Sord was 22 at the time of the crash. The Chicago Tribune reported at the time that Sord was partnering with Blackhawks legend Denis Savard to open a restaurant in Indiana. Shortly after the crash, Savard pulled out of the partnership.

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