At Trial, Chicago Heights Officer Blamed for Child's Death

Testimony is expected to continue today in the trial of Cecil Conner, a Steger man who drove into a tree and killed his girlfriend's 5-year-old son in May 2010 after a Chicago Heights police officer handed him the keys to the woman's car.

Officer Chris Felicetti pulled over Kathie LaFond and arrested her for driving on a suspended license. He gave the keys to Cecil and told him to drive LaFond's Chevy Cavalier to the police station. Her son, Michael Langford Jr., was strapped into a booster seat. On his way there, he sped off the road and into a tree. Police said he was driving 75 mph. Conner is charged with aggravated drunken driving.

During opening statements in the Will County Courthouse Monday, defense attorney Jeff Tomczak laid the blame for the accident on Felicetti, not the drunken Conner, according to Chicago Tribune reporter Steve Schmadeke, who wrote:

LaFond, in the squad car watching her boyfriend drive away, asked Felicetti, "Where's my baby going?" he said.

"We'll see him back at the station," Felicetti replied, according to Tomczak.

"Kathie knows who caused the accident – the evidence will show it's not him," Tomczak said, pointing to Conner.

Prosecutors lay the blame squarely on Conner, according to a report from Sun-Times Media reporter Lauren FitzPatrick:

Assistant State’s Attorney Alyson DeBell summed up her case in just five minutes: Conner was drunk and at the wheel. He was speeding more than twice the speed limit. He smashed the back end of the car so hard into a tree it knocked off the bark. 

“What about the little boy, Michael, trapped in his booster seat in the back of the car? Michael never took another breath,” she told jurors.

LaFond, who was at the trial, is suing the police department and Felicetti. The trial continues today.