CHICAGO (December 11, 2024) – A Cook County jury has awarded a $79.85 million verdict to the family of a 10-year-old girl who was killed following a 2020 police pursuit in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood initiated by the Chicago Police Department. According to the Jury Verdict Reporter, the verdict is the highest reported Illinois verdict for a police pursuit crash.
Da’Karia Spicer
On September 2, 2020, 10-year-old Da’Karia Spicer was a backseat passenger in a vehicle driven by her father, Kevin Spicer. Da’Karia was on her way to school to pick up a laptop with her 5-year-old brother when two Chicago Police officers initiated an unauthorized motor vehicle pursuit of a car that had allegedly committed a traffic violation. The pursued vehicle then crashed into another car before crashing into the vehicle in which Da’Karia was a passenger.
Just before a trial began on Thursday, December 5, in Cook County Circuit Court before the Honorable Preston Jones, the City of Chicago admitted liability for the fatal crash. At that time, the city offered a settlement that represented the extent of their self-insured retention. From there, it was the responsibility of the city’s insurance companies to resolve the case for an amount that would appropriately compensate the Spicer family for what they had endured.
“The City of Chicago did what was in their power to step up and resolve this case, but their insurance carrier gambled with taxpayers’ money and gambled that a jury would not recognize the Spicer family’s incalculable loss,” Lance D. Northcutt, Partner at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard said. “They put profits over humanity. We never should have gotten to the point where a jury had to listen to the excruciating evidence involved in this case.”
On Wednesday, December 11, a Cook County jury awarded the Spicer family a total of $79.85 million for their collective pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of society, among other damages.
“The impact of this incident was catastrophic, and the Spicer family lost a bright, talented, and smart 10-year-old girl who was the absolute light of their lives,” Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard Managing Partner Patrick A. Salvi II said. “We very deeply thank this jury for their service and for recognizing the magnitude of the family’s loss.”
Attorneys for the family plan to file a separate cause of action against the insurance carriers who failed to settle the case prior to trial.
“A second act is coming, and it is coming soon,” Lance D. Northcutt said following the verdict.
The Spicer family was represented at trial by attorneys Patrick A. Salvi II, Lance D. Northcutt, Aaron D. Boeder, and Eirene N. Salvi of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.
For more information, please contact Marcie Mangan at (312) 372-1227 or mmangan@salvilaw.com.
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