A lawsuit has been filed against a trio of teenagers who police say are to blame for a Round Lake Beach cell phone robbery that turned deadly this past spring.
43-year-old North Chicago man Trinidad Javier Bueno Sanchez was killed on April 24 when he was dragged by a car driven by a then 17-year-old girl at the Round Lake Beach Meijer parking lot, where he was supposed to sell a woman in the car his cellphone.
When officers arrived they spotted Trinidad Bueno-Sanchez lying on the ground, conscious, Scott said. Bueno-Sanchez was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with life-threatening injuries, and later died there.
Police and the Lake County Major Crime Task Force learned Buneo-Sanchez had placed an ad to sell his phone on an app called, “Offer Up,” Scott said. He was contacted by Courtney A. Sherman, 18, to buy it for an agreed-upon price.
Buneo-Sanchez and Sherman agreed to meet in the Meijer parking lot, Scott said. Sherman arrived in a vehicle driven by a then 17-year-old girl with four other girls, all 16 to 17, in the vehicle.
He went up to the passenger side of the car and and spoke to Sherman, who asked to see the phone. She handed him an envelope with cash that was significantly less than the amount of money they discussed, Scott said. Buneo-Sanchez was leaning into the passenger-side window of the car, disputing the payment, when the driver accelerated.
His body was dragged by the vehicle, eventually became detached and he fell, striking his head on the pavement as the vehicle drove off, Scott said. After questioning, police learned Sherman and the girls had planned to steal the phone.
Bueno-Sanchez’s death was ruled a homicide caused by head trauma, according to the Lake County coroner’s office.
Sherman, of Fox Lake, was arrested and charged with reckless homicide and robbery, police said. Two of the 17-year-old girls were also charged with reckless homicide and robbery.
The lawsuit seeks damages that lawyers say Trinidad Javier Bueno Sanchez would have been able to pursue if he had survived the incident.
The civil lawsuit names Courtney A. Sherman, 18, of Fox Lake, the two other girls facing charges in the case, as well as the parents of the latter two girls, who are reportedly from Lakemoor and Ingleside.
Sanchez’s family members are seeking restitution for their suffering and compensation for incurred expenses, such as burial and attorney costs.
The family’s attorney, Julio Argueta, said in a statement that “This case is the very definition of a senseless tragedy. Mr. Bueno Sanchez’s wife and his five children will never get to spend another day with her husband or their father. All because of a cellphone. Consequently, we intend to seek out justice for this family through every available avenue.”