Wheaton Mom Files Wrongful Death Suit in Fatal Joyride

Caption: Sean Hurley, 24, was killed in a car crash on May 17, 2014. The driver of the car was charged with aggravated DUI.

By Lorraine Swanson

The mother of a 24-year-old Wheaton man who was killed in a car crash in May has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver and the car’s owner.

Wheaton resident Cynthia Keene, the mother of Sean Hurley, 24, the man killed in the crashed, filed the lawsuit in DuPage County Circuit Court on September 10.

Hurley was the front seat passenger in a car allegedly driven by Luis Jiminez, 22, of Bolingbrook, when Jiminez lost control of the vehicle and struck a tree near Sheffield and Cheshire Lane in Wheaton on May 17. Hurley died at the scene.

The lawsuit also names Aida Lopez, the owner of the 2013 Scion, who was seriously injured in the crash. Lopez is from Bolingbrook.

Authorities said that Jiminez had failed to negotiate a curve and lost control of the car. Police said he had a blood alcohol content of .09, just over the .08 legal limit. Jiminez has since been charged with aggravated DUI and is currently free on a $50,000 bond.

The DuPage County Coroner said that the time that a group of friends had decided to go for a “joyride” in the early morning hours of May 17 after a night of drinking.

Keene’s lawsuit claims that Jiminez’s negligent acts caused her son’s death because he had been speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol.

The lawsuit further alleges that Lopez was negligent by allowing Jiminez to driver her car after he had been drinking.

Keene is being represented by attorney Carolyn Daley Scott.