No Bail For Man In Hit-And-Run That Killed Richards Student

CHICAGO RIDGE, IL -- The driver involved in a hit-and-run accident that killed 15-year-old Amira Nairat had been out on an all-night bender before he drove up on a sidewalk killing the teen as she walked to Richards High School earlier this week, prosecutors said. Edward Cruz, 25, of Oak Lawn, appeared before Cook County Judge John Mahoney on felony charges of aggravated DUI causing death, leaving the scene of an accident causing death, and drunken driving. Cruz nodded to his parents as he was led into the packed courtroom on Wednesday at the Bridgeview Courthouse wearing a long-sleeved pullover and jeans.

The prosecutor said that Cruz had been at a friend’s house watching the Super Bowl on Sunday evening, where he admitted to drinking “12 beers.” After the game, Cruz reportedly went to 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park around 11:30 p.m. He was arrested after he allegedly reached behind the bar and started drinking alcohol from the open bottles of liquor. Cruz was charged with theft and bonded out 20 minutes later at the Merrionette Park police station, the prosecutor said.

Cruz showed up back at his friend’s house at 6 a.m. Monday, where he allegedly consumed more whiskey. The prosecutor said Cruz told his friend “I’m messed up,” before leaving his friend’s residence.

>>> Richards Mourns Loss Of Freshman Student Struck By Car

At 7:37 a.m., Oak Lawn police received a report of a Volkswagen Beetle traveling southbound that had slammed into two other vehicles from behind in the 9400 block of Central Avenue before leaving the scene. Police said the driver of the Volkswagen then drove into the lane of oncoming traffic where it sideswiped another car, taking off the vehicle’s side mirror.

Oak Lawn police broadcast a description of the car, which was spotted moments later by a Chicago Ridge police officer who was sitting in traffic in the northbound lanes of Central Avenue. The Chicago Ridge officer made a U-turn and positioned the patrol car behind the Volkswagen in the southbound curb lane of Central Avenue across the street from Richards High School. The officer watched Cruz drive up on to the sidewalk where he hit the teen and sent her airborne, the prosecutor said.

Cruz left the scene and was stopped by officers at 111th Street and Massasoit Avenue as the Chicago Ridge officer tended to the gravely injured teen. Suffering from severe upper body trauma, Amira was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center where she was pronounced deceased.

Chicago Ridge police said that Cruz showed signs of alcohol impairment and was unsteady on his feet with vomit on his clothes. Cruz allegedly told police he was unaware he had hit a person but remembered “hitting something” because his windshield was cracked. He is also said to have admitted being intoxicated. The prosecutor said that Cruz refused to cooperate in field sobriety or breath tests. Chicago Ridge police obtained a search warrant to retrieve Cruz's blood for chemical testing.

Between the time Cruz bonded out of the Merrionette Park police station Sunday evening to when he showed up at his friend’s house early Monday morning, police said they still don’t know where or what Cruz was doing during those hours. Anyone with information that can help police track Cruz’s whereabouts prior to the crash is asked to call Chicago Ridge police at 708-425-7831.

In addition to the pending theft charge, the prosecutor said that Cruz had a previous conviction for reckless driving, that had been knocked down from driving under the influence of alcohol. He had been driving with a valid driver’s license with a valid driver’s license with a pending suspension from the Illinois Secretary of State, according to records. The prosecutor asked that Cruz not be allowed to drive a car while the case is pending.

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Mahoney said.

Cruz’s attorney Jonathan Brayman told the judge that his client was a 2012 graduate of Richards High School and had attended Moraine Valley Community College. Brayman said that Cruz worked at various jobs and was the father of a young daughter. He said that Cruz’s parents were of modest means but could come up with $5,000, asking for electronic monitoring so that Cruz could enter an in-patient treatment program.

“He understands that he needs treatment, or he’ll end up dead,” Brayman said. “The facts cry out that he has an unaddressed substance abuse problem.”

Mahoney ordered Cruz to be held without bond given the “presumptive proof” of the complaint. Cruz’s mother sighed deeply in the courtroom. His attorney asked for an order that would allow Cruz to receive substance abuse treatment in jail.

Cruz was also cited for traffic violations, including operating a motor vehicle with no insurance and failure to give information on a crash, failure to exercise due care to a pedestrian, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and improper lane usage.

The teen’s family attorney, Rouhy Shalabi, said that Amira’s parents were on their way to the cemetery at that moment to bury their daughter, who was one of six children. He called the freak accident “every parent’s worst nightmare.” Amira was everyone’s child, Shalabi said.

“Like all children she was a wonderful child,” he added. “She was on a sidewalk. She wasn’t jay walking. The driver should not have been on the road.”

Shalabi said it was still too soon to determine if the family would be filing a civil lawsuit. He did not know why Cruz was allegedly able to get back behind the wheel of a car after bonding out of the Merrionette Park police station the night before, especially when he had reportedly been caught stealing alcohol.

“All of that will come out,” Shalabi said.

Cruz is due back in court March 6 in Bridgeview. If convicted of the aggravated DUI charge, he faces 3 to 14 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.