Guilty Verdict For Steger Man in Fatal Drunken Crash Case

Cecil Conner admitted during his trial that he was drunk when he ran a car into a tree, killing his girlfriend's young son, but blamed it on a cop he claimed ordered him to drive.

On Tuesday night, the Steger man's attorneys were still blaming the child's death on the Chicago Heights patrolman as Conner was carted back to jail to await sentencing after a jury found him guilty.

"Cecil Conner may be paying for a mistake that was made by a Chicago Heights police officer," defense attorney Jeff Tomczak said of his client, who is eligible for probation but likely prison bound following the guilty verdict handed down about 8 p.m.

The seven women and five men on Conner's jury deliberated for about nine hours before returning and announcing they had found him guilty.

Conner's trial lasted more than a week and was highlighted by him taking the stand in his own defense to admit he was drunk and driving when he crashed a 1997 Chevy Cavalier into a tree in Steger in the early morning hours of May 10.

In the wreck, Michael Langford, the 5-year-old son of Conner's girlfriend, Kathie LaFond, was killed.

But Tomczak argued that Conner should not be judged on what happened that morning in Steger. The case hinged, he said, on what went down during a traffic stop in Chicago Height about 20 minutes before.

A sober LaFond was originally driving, with Conner in the passenger seat and Michael sleeping in a booster seat in the back, but was pulled over by Chicago Heights Police Officer Chris Felicetti.

Felicetti arrested LaFond for driving without a valid license. Felicetti earlier testified that he was unaware that Conner was intoxicated and that he gave him the option to drive the car away to avoid having it towed. Conner testified that Felicetti ordered him to drive the car to the police station. If he refused to do so, Conner said, he feared Felicetti was going to arrest him.

And Tomczak said in his closing argument that Felicetti was just trying to get Conner behind the wheel so he could collar him on a drunken driving charge.

Following the trial, State's Attorney James Glasgow called blaming Felicetti "preposterous and disgusting."

The criminal case against Conner may be over, but his now former girlfriend LaFond still has a civil action pending against him.

Before her son was dead for 48 hours, LaFond was suing not only Conner, but Felicetti and the town of Chicago Heights. She claimed under oath she was unaware she stood to profit from the lawsuit.

After the trial, Conner's other attorney, Paul Napolski, said LaFond "did a phenomenal job" of testifying.

Glasgow, who said he will push for a prison sentence, called LaFond's lawsuit into question, saying, "To turn this case into a treasure hunt for money against the Chicago Heights Police Department is not what we're here for."

Glasgow also asked, "And what was that child doing out at three in the morning?"

Conner's sentencing date was set for May 18. Tomczak said he will pursue a new trial based on pretrial motions denied by Burmilla.

"There's quite a bit of litigation to go in this case," he said.

Conner kept his composure after the verdict was read but teared up when Napolski placed his hand on the back of his neck.

"He was crying, he was very sad," Tomczak said. "I think the majority of his sadness was for the loss of a child and not what happened to him."