Prosecutors charge motorist with negligence in death of cyclist
A Kenosha teenager was charged Monday morning with negligent homicide a bicyclist was struck early Sunday morning on County Highway H in the Village of Pleasant Prairie.
Friends reported the victim, Devin Kunich, 22, was biking home from his job at the Bristol Renaissance Fair when he was hit about 12:30 a.m. He is the fifth cyclist struck and killed by a motor vehicle in Wisconsin since July 1.
No charges have been filed in the earlier crashes, but prosecutors in Kenosha County moved quickly to issue a felony charge against the driver involved in Kunich's death.
Quashae D. Taylor, 18, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $25,000, if convicted.
According to the criminal complaint:
Taylor said she was driving home after visiting her brother in Illinois after midnight Sunday. She said that she could not see very well because of the fog and was driving about 35 mph.
Taylor said she closed her eyes for a second, which she described as a “long blink,” when she heard something hit her car and her roof. Taylor said she opened her eyes and saw that her windshield was smashed in. She began to brake, thinking she hit a deer but could not see anything. She continued to drive north on County Highway H until she reached its intersection with Wisconsin Highway 165 and called for help.
According to Taylor’s cellphone call log, she received three calls from her boyfriend. The last call came at 12:45 a.m. Taylor said she remembered someone saying “Hello” at the same time she closed her eyes.
A separate report came in about a body found on County Highway H. The body was identified as Devin J. Kunich, who was dead. A heavily damaged bike was found nearby, and had three white reflectors in the front wheel spokes and two yellow reflectors on each pedal. No other lights or reflectors were found.
An officer also found a backpack, a pair of shoes, a bicycle seat, a pair of boots, a 35 mile-per-hour speed limit sign and an MP3 player with headphones.
It appears that Kunich was riding his bicycle north when he was struck from behind by the vehicle. The area of the accident does not have streetlights.
Taylor also said she is legally blind in her left eye and suffers from cerebral palsy. She was not wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses, although she is supposed to for driving. Taylor said she lost her glasses. Taylor said she did not have anything to drink nor did she take any drugs except for Ibuprofen.
She submitted to blood-alcohol tests and the results have not been released.
64 Comments for "Prosecutors charge motorist with negligence in death of cyclist"
CTN29798 Aug 08, 2011 3:21 PM
PrettyBird32 Aug 08, 2011 3:28 PM
PrettyBird32 Aug 08, 2011 3:39 PM
PrettyBird32 Aug 08, 2011 3:58 PM
Two people made poor choices and unfortunately, two lives have been altered. Sadly, only one will have a chance to outlive the incident. Instead of pointing the finger, lets use this as a teaching moment so that it doesnt happen to anymore young people.
LetsReason2gether Aug 08, 2011 4:00 PM
Discussion creates awareness and that is a good thing for everyone who
uses the roads.
However, in THIS case - how would any of those things changed the
outcome? From the information presented a person who is legally blind in
one eye, who was not wearing her required corrective lenses was talking
on the cell phone and had - by her own account - her eyes closed.
Nothing you are advocating would have changed what happened to young
Devin.
Let's keep the focus on THIS incident. One person is dead and another
has to cope with their trauma of killing that person. We know little or
nothing about either of the individuals involved apart from anonymous
posting in the comments section. Either one could be a saint or terrible
human being. Odds are BOTH have families that love them and those
families are likely devastated. We simply do not know.
It is good that charges were filed to link the accident with a
consequence. If it turns out that the limited facts reported here are in
error or there are other circumstances the charges can be modified or
dropped.
The goal should be finding ways to make the roads safe and efficient for
all users. All users have responsibilities.
BDWIRunner Aug 08, 2011 4:11 PM
Yet another lose-lose car-bike accident, seemingly the 20th one this summer around here. Also last night, an Amish kid was killed in southwest Wisconsin when a driver crested a hill in the fog and rear-ended a horse-drawn buggy carrying three minors.
Regardless of fault in any of these collisions, the biker/buggy rider etc. ALWAYS loses to the car. As I was told at a very young age and have passed along to my kids, it is better to be alive than dead and "not at fault."
Bikers -- the roads are filled 24 hours a day with bad, drunk, distracted, texting, angry, handicapped drivers who shouldn't be on the road. That will never change, even if the death penalty is enacted for hitting a bike with your car. People will always drive like crap. Please, for your own sake, stop riding at night, even with reflectors and full safety gear. It's just plain stupidly risky.
paul22 Aug 08, 2011 4:11 PM
PrettyBird32 Aug 08, 2011 4:17 PM