Man Confesses To Sister Of Victim From 2008 Hit-And-Run
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man who seemingly stayed off the police radar for 3 ½ years confessed to a deadly hit-and-run accident after turning up at the home of the victim's sister.
Melissa Lech, 20, was struck and killed as she was walking down the street in Joliet in the early morning hours of Aug. 7, 2008.
The suspect, David McCarthy, was never identified until Sunday morning, when he knocked on the door of Lech's sister's house, apparently after his conscience got the best of him.
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McCarthy now stands charged with hit-and-run and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death and has been ordered held on $1 million bond.
As CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports, Lech's mother has been visiting the site where she was run over every day since her daughter was killed. Maria Lech also lights a candle at a shrine there every night.
The Lechs have been hoping for 3 ½ years to find out who was responsible for Melissa's death, but never expected he'd just walk up to them and admit what he'd done.
Melissa's sister, Michelle, said McCarthy showed up at her door Sunday morning with the shocking news.
"He said, 'I was the one that struck Melissa," she said. "And I said, 'Why didn't you call the police, why didn't you come forward?' He said, 'I called 911.'"
"He never, at any point, said he was sorry," Michelle added.
Instead, McCarthy said he began thinking about the case after seeing reports last September that a NASCAR driver put Melissa's picture on his race car to help generate tips about who ran her over.
Melissa had been struck on McDonough Road in Joliet. Her family shared their agony of not knowing what happened to the 20-year-old woman described as full of life.
"I asked him towards the end, I said, 'Well, are you gonna go to the police now? Are you gonna tell them what happened, that you did this?' And he said, 'I have to think about it,'" Michelle said.
But Michelle wasted no time calling police and offering up the McCarthy's license plate number. Within hours, police arrested McCarthy and charged him with hit and run.
The Lechs are not sympathetic.
"No matter what, he left her to die; and he should get punished for it," Maria Lech said.
Friends and family have found some comfort in a Facebook page dedicated to Melissa's memory, but her mother said – for her – there is no peace.
"I still light up candle; and I still, when I look at picture, it breaks my heart," Maria said.
The Lechs said they've never seen McCarthy before, and don't know how he found them. But they're very thankful to Joliet police for tracking him down so quickly, and arresting him after he confessed to them.
