The family of a Chicago teenager who was killed by a "sucker punch" during an alcohol-fueled beach brawl in Northwest Indiana in 2011 has agreed to a settlement of $1 million in a civil suit against the man charged with delivering the fatal punch.
Jean and Kevin Kennelly, the parents of the victim Kevin Kennelly, said the lawsuit "was never about the money." On Wednesday, they announced they will donate the entire $1 million settlement to Mt. Carmel High School in their son's name.
"No amount of money could replace the life of our son, who was a billion dollars, not a million," Kevin Kennelly Sr. said. "This is our intent, is to have something big out of Kevin's time on this earth and do some of the things that Kevin would have done. He was a very good man who would have done great things with his life."
Kennelly was 17 when he died after receiving a "sucker punch" from 19-year-old Jake Malecek, of Chicago. During the July 4th weekend in 2011, Kennelly and several friends became involved in an alcohol-fueled altercation with another group of teenagers at a beach in Long Beach, Indiana. One was Malecek, who had just graduated from Loyola Academy in north suburban Wilmette.
During the altercation, Malecek threw a punch, described by the local police chief as one swift "sucker punch," that killed Kennelly.
Malecek was ultimately convicted of involuntary manslaughter nearly two years later.
Sources said Kennelly was trying to break up the argument when he was punched by Malecek, who others said was trying to defend his sister after several Mt. Carmel students subjected her to ethnic slurs.
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Half of the money donated in Kennelly's name will be used for renovations to the Mt. Carmel High School campus and the rest will be split between two charities, including a student scholarship fund.
