Beverly Family Wins Million-Dollar Lawsuit Against Man Who Killed Their Son

A Beverly family whose 17-year-old son was killed by a devastating punch to the head in 2011 spent the last three years waging a legal battle against the young man who threw that punch.

Recently awarded $1 million, the Kennellys decided to give much of the money away to honor their son, Kevin Kennelly Jr.

In July 2011, the teen was with his friends on a beach in Long Beach, IN, where his parents had just purchased a summer home, when he was punched in the ear after a disagreement with James Malacek, a Lake View man. He was on a ventilator for two days before he died. Malacek, who was 19 then, spent just 145 days in jail and four years on home monitoring. Kennelly’s father, Kevin Kennelly Sr., a Chicago Fire Department captain, called the punishment a “slap on the wrist” at the time.

The money secured in the lawsuit will honor their son’s life — $650,000 will be donated to Mount Carmel High School, where Kennelly was a student; St. Barnabas School, where he attended grade school; Sacred Heart Church, where the family attends Mass; and the Kevin F. Kennelly Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund.

The scholarship fund was established in 2013.

more via the Chicago Tribune