Press Conference: Wood River Family Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit – Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C.

[00:00:39.27] - Lance Northcutt
Good morning. My name is Lance Northcutt. I'm an attorney with the law firm of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard in Chicago. I am joined here today by Mark Briggs, to my right, John Berry Julian, to Mark's right, attorney Roy Dripps from the law firm of Dripps & Blotevogel, to his right. Then next to me, I have Tana Alexander, who is joined by her husband, Luke. The most sacred obligation of law enforcement is the protection of human life. Any police officer who puts on a badge and patrols the streets, roads in the state of Illinois knows this. Police officers are trained that in the specific context of vehicle pursuits, there has to be a balancing between the need to apprehend a fleeing offender and the danger to human life, whether that be the offender they're chasing, whether that be a fellow police officer, or whether that be someone who is going about their life and has every right to be safe from needless harm. For reasons that this family is still trying to understand, on July 3, 2025, police officers from the Wood River Police Department abandoned that duty and decided that they were going to go on a high-speed pursuit in the middle of a day, the day before a holiday, through a busy residential and commercial area in Wood River to chase a traffic offender.

[00:02:41.15] - Lance Northcutt
They made the conscious decision that a traffic violation or equipment violation was worth putting innocent people at risk of great bodily harm or death. After this fleeing offender went up to speeds more than double the posted speed limit, over 70 miles an hour. What all the studies, what all the police training has taught us over the course of decades was a predictable result happened, and there was a crash. George and Donna Julian were looking forward to the life ahead of them, to the fourth of July weekend ahead of them, and had no way of knowing that this police officer was going to engage in a vehicle pursuit at high speeds through dangerous intersections where families were traveling in order to apprehend a traffic offender. The fleeing vehicle struck the car that was occupied by George and Donna. It was shot off the roadway into a ravine, and they burned in that car for minutes. That is how their life ended. The man who was fleeing the police that day has been arrested in charge with murder, possession of a firearm, among other crimes. There will be, one hopes, accountability for that person in the context of the criminal justice system.

[00:04:36.26] - Lance Northcutt
But what we are here for now, and what began with the filing of a lawsuit in the circuit Court of Madison County yesterday, is accountability for everyone who took part in this preventable tragedy. That's why we are here. I'm going to introduce Mark, who's going to explain to you a little bit about who he is, who's going to tell you about the lives that have been lost. Then I'll address you again briefly, and I'll be happy to take any questions that you might have. Mark.

[00:05:12.22] - Mark Briggs
Thanks, Lance. Again, my name is Mark Briggs, and I'm joined again this morning by my sister, Tana Alexander, her husband, Luke, and George's brother, Barry. I prepared a statement on behalf of the family. I've lived in the Wood River community my whole life. I work there. I teach at a local high school. This is going to be difficult for me because We just lost some very important people to us in our life. On the morning of July third, my mom, Donna, and her husband, George, left their home together what should have been an ordinary Every day for them. They had a dermatologist appointment at 8: 30 in Belleville, Illinois. My mom did everything with George. She didn't miss any appointments. She was by his side just about every waking moment each day. On their way home on route 3 and 143, their lives were cut down in an instant, which I can only describe as a 4,000-pound bullet that was unleashed in the middle of our community. That's full of families in the afternoon, one of the busiest holidays of the year. And upon impact, their car was violently pushed 40 yards or more into a ravine where they burned for several minutes, with over 90% of their body burnt beyond recognition.

[00:06:57.21] - Mark Briggs
Because of the severity of the fire, our family was We were not able to ever say goodbye in any meaningful way. We weren't able to identify their bodies. A forensic dentist had to be brought in to confirm their identities, which took at least three days. That is the level of destruction that our family has dealt with, and this is the reality that we live with. It's also an image that our family is going to have to have seared in their minds forever with moving forward. We lost so much more than just two people, though, that morning. We lost a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, and a sister. We lost a father, a grandfather, a great grandfather, and a brother. We lost pillars of our family. They were the ones who anchored the holidays, made birthdays. Birthday calls, showed up at graduations and weddings, served as role models for our family and our grandchildren, and never got the chance to hold their great grandchild who was born five days prior to this accident. Donna and George had so much life ahead of them. They had so much more time to spend with their family, so many more chances to make memories and opportunities to impact people around them.

[00:08:13.20] - Mark Briggs
They were still making a difference in their lives who knew them, and that was all stolen from us. That loss followed a decision made by someone in a position of authority, one that led to a high-speed pursuit described by Chief Wells as a minor traffic offense. It happened on one of the busiest days of the year and right before the fourth of July, and right at lunchtime when the risk of the public was undeniably high. That single decision set in motion, irreversible chain of events that devastated our family, is an absolute miracle on that day that more lives were not lost. The streets were full, families were out, and any one of them could have been caught in the path of destruction. For our family, that miracle never came. Our family will never be the same. We will carry their absent in every breath, in every family gathering, in every quiet moment when we should just hear their voices again. There's no fixing this. There's no replacing what we've lost. Our family is not seeking empathy. We're speaking out because we never want this to happen to another family again. No one should ever have to endure this heartbreak.

[00:09:25.25] - Mark Briggs
That's all I have, Lance.

[00:09:28.01] - Lance Northcutt
Thank you. I'll take any questions folks might have. Sure. Tana Alexander, T-A-N-A Alexander. Luke Alexander, L-U-K-E. Lance Northcutt, L-A-N-C-E. N-o-r-t-h-c-u-t-t. Mark Briggs, B-R-I-G-G-S. John Berry Julian, J-U-L-I-A-N. And Roy Dripps, D-R-I-P-P-S.

[00:10:30.05] - Marcie Mangan
No questions here, but if the media has questions they can always reach out.

[00:10:33.16] - Lance Northcutt
Absolutely. In conclusion, I want to say that the carnage that we are seeing is a result of these senseless police pursuits continues to accumulate. This is the latest chapter in a regrettable continuum of misconduct that we have seen. The job of a police officer officer is hard. The risks that they face are real. And make no mistake, there are times when a police officer should and must pursue a fleeing vehicle. Those times don't begin They don't begin with a registration violation. They don't begin with a moving violation. They don't get justified by saying after the fact, Well, we think this person was a bad guy. On behalf of this family, we seek the full measure of justice that the civil justice system will allow. That began yesterday. Thank you.