It’s been nearly a month since 10-year-old Tony Borcia was killed in an accident near Lake Villa. And for his family, the path toward healing is just beginning.
Tony was hit by a speedboat after he fell off an inner tube. It happened in a matter of seconds and prosecutors say the man driving that boat, David Hatyina, was drunk and high on cocaine. Hatyina has been charged with reckless homicide.
But it’s a day the victim's family will never forget on the Chain O Lakes in Lake County, and Tony's father, Jim, hopes talking about his son will help prevent such a senseless tragedy from happening again.
“If there is a heaven, and I believe there is, there is no one more qualified to go there then my son,” Jim Borcia said in his only interview following the tragedy.
Jim says his son, like his older brother, was a huge White Sox fan who always reminded his dad just how bad the Cubs really were.
"Every year I’d do the Tony count on how many years the Cubs haven’t won the World Series," Jim remembers. "I heard the words 104 years Dad, 104 years Dad, -- it must have been a thousand times."
Tony had two older sisters, Erin and Kaeleigh, and Erin was tubing with him at the time of the accident.
"I always called him my baby because there was such an age difference. I do feel like I lost my best friend.” Kaeleigh says. "He was always home for me and always happy. And whenever I was sad he would always be there for me. He was always a friend to me."
Tony's older brother, Joe, is also trying to come to grips with his death. Joe jumped into the water to try to find him.
"The images that he has from that are still in his mind very fresh,” Jim said. "He loved his brother so much. And I think he was like me looking forward to helping his brother grow up to be a little man."
Kaeleigh says forgiveness may never come for the man accused of killing her brother.
"I believe that Tony has already forgiven him. That’s how I feel because Tony was such a forgiving person," Kaeleigh said. "But there wasn’t just one victim that day. We’re all victims because of this. What I saw, what my family saw, I will never forgive him. All because he wanted to get high that day."
