A Wisconsin man was found guilty Wednesday of attempted murder for running over and critically injuring a Zion woman with a car in April 2017.
Cornell Conely, 28, was found guilty by Lake County Circuit Judge Victoria Rossetti on the third and final day of his bench trial on charges related to the incident. The defendant opted not to request a jury trial.
In closing arguments Wednesday afternoon, Assistant State’s Attorney Kim Furrer said evidence in the case left no doubt that Conely intended to kill the 24-year-old victim.
Furrer said an escalating argument between Conely and the victim, his then girlfriend’s sister, ended up with Conely in a state of “fury.”
“He told his (girlfriend) he was going to run (the victim) down. He gained speed and ran over her, right through her,” Furrer said. “He left her on the street as if she were nothing but roadkill. He left her for dead.”
The victim was transported to Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where she was initially in critical condition with a laceratated liver, a concussion, cracked ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured pelvis and multiple bruises and external trauma, Furrer said.
Furrer added that a doctor at Condell testified she still had gravel and vehicle remnants in her body when she arrived at the hospital. She was hospitalized for a week, but has recovered.
Defense attorney Robert Ritacca argued that evidence from the scene and testimony did not lead to the conclusion that the state reached, and that Conely had not intended to kill her or anyone.
Ritacca said Conely had driven his girlfriend and two children from Kenosha to a home on 30th Street in Zion to drop the children off for a “special day,” but an argument arose between Conely and the woman.
Prosecutors said Conely had originally left the house, then made a U-turn at a nearby intersection, sped up and returned to run over the woman. Ritacca countered that family members had called him and asked him to come back to retrieve a baby seat.
Ritacca criticized authorities for not bringing an accident reconstruction unit to the scene, and said the car did not show the damage it would have if it had run over someone, nor was there enough debris in the area to show that the woman was struck in the street outside the home.
According to Ritacca, the woman had ran in front of the car while it was in the home’s driveway and a grassy area in an effort to stop him from leaving the home.
He said the state’s evidence was “circumstantial” in the case, and not backed up by physical evidence of any kind.
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Rossetti found that the state had not only proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt for attempted murder, but also found Conely guilty of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, leaving the scene of an injury accident and failure to report an accident, both in terms of the hit-and-run and a second accident that followed.
Zion police said they received a call of a pedestrian struck by a hit-and-run driver at about 9:30 a.m. April 11, 2017, in the 2300 block of 30th Street, and that witnesses and relatives of the victim told police the driver’s name and gave them a vehicle description.
A short time later, 911 operators received another call about an accident involving two vehicles and a truck, with one vehicle matching the description of the one involved in the earlier hit-and-run, according to police reports.
Police said the driver of the vehicle involved in both incidents fled the scene of the crash at Route 173 and Gilead Avenue.
A 74-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman sustained injuries that were not life-threatening in the second crash and were transported to Condell for evaluation and treatment, while the driver of the truck was uninjured, according to police.
A Zion officer testified Tuesday that he spotted Conely walking down a street in the city after the crash on Route 173, identified him and placed him under arrest.
The Ford allegedly driven by Conely in both incidents was found abandoned in the 1700 block of Hermon Avenue shortly before Conely was arrested, according to authorities.
Conely has been held in custody of the Lake County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail since his arrest.
At the request of Assistant State’s Attorney Stella Day, Rossetti revoked Conely’s bail after his conviction and sent a sentencing date of July 2. He faces up to 30 years in prison on the attempted murder charge.