Wrongful death suit filed in fatal beach beating of Beverly teen
Sun-Times Media January 19, 2012 5:52PM
Kevin Kennelly. Supplied photo.
Updated: January 20, 2012 12:04PM
The parents of a 17-year-old Beverly boy who died after being beaten in a Fourth of July brawl on a Lake Michigan beach near Michigan City, Ind., has filed a wrongful death suit against the man charged in connection with his death as well as members of his family.
Jean and Kevin Kennelly Sr. of Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood claim Anne Malecek was drunk and became verbally abusive and then struck Kevin Kennelly Jr.’s friend on July 4, 2011, in Long Beach, Ind., according to a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court. Long Beach is just east of Michigan City.
Kennelly’s friend did not retaliate, but Anne contacted her brother, James Malecek, and sought to instigate a confrontation between the two, the suit said. Anne failed to tell her brother that Kennelly was not involved in the argument with his friend, the suit said.
During the warrant hearing, Long Beach Police Chief Robert Sulkowski testified that James Malecek hit Kennelly in the head during the fight. Kennelly was pronounced dead July 6, 2011, at St. Anthony Medical Center in Crown Point, Ind.
An autopsy determinedthat blunt force trauma to the head was the cause of death. Malecek, then 19, of Chicago, was charged with felony aggravated battery, involuntary manslaughter and battery.
The suit said Marguerite Malecek drove her children to the beach and permitted her minor daughter, Anne, to have alcoholic beverages. She picked up her children, near the beach where Kennelly lay unconscious and dying, the suit said, then secluded and hid her son for several days to hide physical evidence on his body, including evidence of his intoxication.
The wrongful death suit seeks a jury trial, damages, attorney fees and court costs.
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