Lawsuit Alleges Cops Posed Dead Woman's Nude Body for Photos

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 4, 2011 8:40PM

A lawsuit filed last Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court alleges that Cook County Sheriff's officers removed the clothing of a woman killed in a car crash and photographed several shots of her in the nude.

20-year-old Jessica Mejia was killed in a car crash near suburban Oak Forest on New Year's Eve 2009. Her boyfriend, Nick Sord, was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI in the crash after he registered a blood alcohol level of .236. Neither Sord nor Mejia were wearing seat belts when Sord's Mercedes SUV struck a light pole, then went into a ditch and rolled over.

The suit filed by Mejia's family claims that investigators stripped Mejia's body in plain view of onlookers and passers-by; posed her nude body in various positions; and followed neither Cook County Sheriff's nor Cook County Medical Examiner's office protocol.

Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Patterson said in a statement that they've worked to provide justice to Mejia's family and had never heard of the scenario posed in the lawsuit prior to its filing.