Lawsuit filed in October crash

HUNTLEY – The family of an East Dubuque woman who was killed in a three-vehicle pileup on Halloween has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit.

Tabitha Carroll, 32, formerly of Carpentersville, died last fall while she, her husband and their son were on their way from a Huntley pumpkin farm to East Dundee to celebrate Halloween with family.

The Carrolls were stopped in traffic on Route 47 near Interstate 90 in Huntley when their Ford pickup was pushed from behind by a semi-truck into a stopped Illinois Department of Transportation dump truck.

Tabitha Carroll, in the passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene, and husband Randy and 3-year-old son Gabriel were airlifted to separate hospitals.

The wrongful-death lawsuit – seeking more than $50,000 in damages for all three – was filed Friday by Carroll’s estate, family attorney John J. Perconti said.

The lawsuit is against the semi driver, 30-year-old Jeffrey Repec of Spring Grove, and his employer, Geils Farms in Harvard.

“This is a very difficult time for them, and they’re obviously looking for some answers in terms of what happened,” Perconti said. “It was especially difficult for Randy losing his wife in this accident and having his son at a different hospital and not being able to care for him while he was there.”

Repec was determined to be under the influence of marijuana during the crash. Half of the semi’s brakes were also later deemed faulty.

Tabitha Carroll’s death was ruled a homicide last week by a Kane County coroner’s jury. However, a pending investigation with an accident reconstructionist will determine what criminal charges might be filed.

“We’re currently working with the Huntley Police Department, and the case is still under investigation,” Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Clint Hull said. “We retained an expert to do some work for us and will not make any decisions on whether to charge or not until we receive that report.”

Hull added that the potential charges might not surface for four to eight weeks.

Perconti said his office continues to investigate the crash, as well.

An initial status hearing on the family lawsuit is scheduled for April in Kane County Circuit Court.