The parents of a 24-year-old Island Lake man killed in a hit-and-run nearly two years ago have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the woman sentenced to 14 years in prison for his death. Austin Stanek was walking with a group along the side of Roberts Road near Island Lake on September 27, 2024, when a white vehicle struck him and kept going, leaving him in a ditch before he died at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital near Barrington.
Stanek's estate and his parents, Paul and Carrie Stanek, are seeking damages exceeding $50,000 from Christine S. Eilers, according to a suit filed in McHenry County court and reported by Shaw Local. The law firm Romanucci & Blandin filed the suit on the family's behalf, though a firm spokesperson declined to comment on the litigation, and no defense attorney has yet filed an appearance in the case. The filing came earlier this month, less than two years after Stanek's death.
A Cover-Up That Unraveled Over Months
Eilers, 52 and from McHenry, wasn't arrested until roughly four months after the crash. In the meantime, she drove to her boyfriend's home in Lakemoor and hid her damaged white SUV under a covering in his garage, per the reporting from the same Shaw Local account. Investigators ultimately located her damaged vehicle, according to the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office.
The initial response and investigation involved a multi-agency effort among the McHenry County Sheriff's Major Crash Investigation Unit, the Island Lake Police Department, and the Wauconda Fire District, according to the McHenry County Sheriff's Office, which said the crash unit spent nearly four months gathering evidence before making an arrest.
Crash Details
Stanek was thrown into a ditch after the collision.
Eilers ultimately pleaded guilty to felony failure to report a crash causing death and felony aggravated driving under the influence involving a crash causing death. Judge Tiffany Davis sentenced her to consecutive seven-year terms on the two felony counts, for a total of 14 years.
Earlier Coverage
Hoodline previously covered the case as investigators worked to identify a suspect in the fatal hit-and-run before Eilers' arrest.
A Scholarship Born From Grief
Stanek was 24 when he died, and his memorial service was held on what would have been his 25th birthday. In the aftermath, his family created the Be Like Austin scholarship, which funds opportunities for young adults entering vocational trades and first-responder careers. Applications for its 2026 trade scholarships are open, according to Be Like Austin.
The crash also fits into a troubling statewide pattern. Illinois Department of Transportation data released in 2025 showed that even as statewide fatal traffic crashes fell 3.5% in 2024, pedestrian fatalities surged 9.5% to 219 deaths, with 144 of those occurring in the six-county Chicago metropolitan region, according to reporting cited by Daily Herald. Transportation safety experts have attributed part of the rise in pedestrian deaths to the growing prevalence of larger SUVs on the road.
