Family Sues After Suspected DUI Crash Kills Mother Of Four
CHICAGO (CBS 2) - The husband of a Chicago woman killed Friday when her car was allegedly struck by a Lynwood village vehicle traveling the wrong way in traffic is suing the Village of Lynwood and the driver for $1 million.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli talked with the husband who is suing the village over his wife's tragic death.
Manuel Little said he has been sleeping on the couch because he can't bear being in his bed without his wife. "We've been sleeping in the same bed for fourteen years."
Little can't sleep next to his wife anymore because as he said, she's sleeping with angels. "I think that's why God took her. He must have needed her up there."
Little's wife, Melikah, was killed after a driver going the wrong way down Route 394 slammed into her car head-on.
Little was driving a separate vehicle just behind his wife when the collision happened, "It happened so fast. I couldn't see it. It was like we hit a wall that just appeared in the middle of the expressway."
His car was also hit and his hip was broken on impact but he still tried to help his wife Melikah. "I felt for a pulse. Didn't feel a pulse. I knew it. I knew it but I didn't want to believe it."
Personal injury attorney Joe Vitu said it didn't have to happen. He adds that longtime Lynwood village clerk Roy Valle is to blame because, Vitu claims, Valle was drunk when the crashed occurred. That's why Vitu is suing Lynwood, so the village will have to pay for Valle's mistake which took a wife from Little and a mom from four young girls.
"It's never acceptable for anyone to be driving drunk. It's almost unbelievable that he could have done this. It's clear that he did," said Vitu.
CBS 2 was unable to get a on camera interview from the Lynwood mayor but sources in the office said that Valle was the type of boss who would give you the shirt of his back.
Little now is faced with explaining to his kids what happened to their mother, "She asks me where is my mother? I say home with God. She says home is here, I want my mommy back."
