Victim's Family Watches As Reckless Homicide Case Drags On

Another New Year's Day has come and gone, marking three years since the death of 20-year-old Jessica Mejia in a DUI-related car accident.

Nicholas Sord, 25, has been charged with reckless homicide in the incident and is out on bond. He was offered a plea deal, which was subsequently turned down. 

A hearing on Jan. 11 was supposed to include arguments on motions about evidence in the case, but a new date in February was chosen instead.

Sord didn't speak during the brief hearing. His attorney Jeff Aprati said the prosecution will be filing the motions but wasn't able to elaborate on what they may include.

Police said Sord was close to three times over the blood-alcohol limit on New Year’s Day 2010 when he lost control of his SUV near 147th Street and Oak Park Avenue, killing 20-year-old Jessica Mejia of New Lenox, a Lincoln Way-Central High School graduate. The defense claims that Mejia caused the accident.

For Mejia's family, the wheels of justice have been turning slowly, apparent in the latest hearing that has been continued for another three weeks.

Mejia's mother, Christina Mejia, has been at every hearing with other family members and her fiance. Mejia's father, Luis Mejia, doesn't get to the hearings as often due to his work schedule but expressed his frustration with the proceedings after court Friday.

"You don't want to say the justice system isn't fair," Luis Mejia told Patch, "but it's just so hard, the extent of this case dragging out is just so much harder. Just prolonging everything. It's a hard thing for everybody."

Luis Mejia said the case "has been devastating" and "a piece of me goes away every time I have to come to the courtroom."

Sord is scheduled to be back in a Markham courtroom before Judge Frank Zelezinski on Feb. 1.

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