PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A Wyoming man will pay $300,000 to the family of a Dunlap High School student, killed last year in a traffic collision, to settle a civil lawsuit.
The settlement, reached in late April in Peoria County Circuit Court, is between the family of Nevaeh Mitchell, 18, and Levi Dietz, 26, who was driving on the wrong side of the road May 4, 2024, when his 2012 Ford Focus collided head on with Mitchell’s 2012 Nissan Versa.
A third of that money will go the family’s team of attorneys, headed by Shaun Cusack with the rest of it going to the family. The case was filed last June and was settled in less than a year, a quick turn-around for civil suits which normally take years.
Cusack said it was a high priority for him, saying it was “all hands on deck.”
Peoria police have said the 11:30 p.m. collision occurred in the 8400 block of North Orange Prairie Road which is north of the Louisville Slugger complex but south of the Gailey Eye Clinic.
Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood stated that Mitchell died after another vehicle driving southbound struck her car head-on while she was driving in the northbound lane of Orange Prairie Road. She was headed home from her job at a nearby AMC movie theater when the crash happened.
According to police reports obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in Dietz’s body, a statement confirmed by his attorney last fall when Dietz pleaded guilty to a traffic citation.
Dietz’s attorney Kevin Sullivan said, after the plea, that it appeared lighting on that road may have played a factor, saying his client was unfamiliar with the area and had made a left turn onto the northbound side of Orange Prairie which was headed the wrong way.
The charge Dietz pleaded to was a petty offense. It’s a step below a misdemeanor and does not include any type of probation such as conditional discharge or court supervision. He was ordered to do community service and pay $1,000 fine.
Cusack said his office continues to investigate the crash and wouldn’t rule out additional lawsuits being filed. He was mum on what or who that might target, saying only that he was “looking at anything and everybody.”
The attorney admitted it was an imperfect way to seek justice but noted “this is the only way to right a wrong, monetarily.”
“It’s our job to protect the family and to get them every available dollar to compensate them,” Cusack said. “Will it make them whole, absolutely not. She was a good kid with a bright future.”
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