COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A suburban teenager is accused of murdering his father by purposefully running over the man three times with a rental car following a funeral in February.
Tarrill Peters, then 17, also hit his mother and a cousin while behind the wheel of a 2015 Buick LaCrosse, Assistant State's Attorney Liam Reardon said during a bond hearing Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege Peters, now 18 and charged as an adult, had argued with his father over allegations the man was abusive toward Peters' mother before the attack, which happened about 11 p.m. Feb. 13 in the 5400 block of West Kamerling Avenue.
But Peters' attorney, David Peilet, on Wednesday claimed Peters never intended to hurt his father.
Several relatives who have a long history of bad blood with Terrell Peters, 39, were beating the man when the younger Peters rushed to get his mom's rental car to get his family away from the situation, Peilet said.
"The truth is very different from what was portrayed by the state," Peilet said after court Wednesday. "He was not fighting with his father that night. His mother said, 'We've got to go. They're beating, they're going to kill your father. Let's all go. Go get the car.' "
"It's possible the car could've struck the father once .... because there was a mob scene going on in the street," Peilet added, arguing that Tarrill Peters did not hit his father three times with the car. "It was an utter mob scene with his father being beaten by three or four individuals. Severely."
According to prosecutors, the mayhem started about 11 p.m. Feb. 13 as roughly 20 people gathered in Austin following a funeral.
Several of Tarrill Peters' mother's relatives argued with Terrell Peters, claiming he had a history of abusing the mother, his common-law wife, Reardon and Peilet said.
During the argument, Tarrill Peters' mother drove up in her rental car (the 2015 Buick LaCrosse) so that she, Terrell Peters, Tarrill Peters and two of the woman's other children could leave, prosecutors said.
At that point, several of the mother's relatives began to physically attack Terrell Peters, knocking him down in the street, according to authorities.
Tarrill Peters got behind the wheel of the Buick, prosecutors said, and ran over his father's head before continuing eastbound down the street.
Tarrill Peters then made a U-turn and sped back toward his father, Reardon said. A relative jumped in the front of the car to get Peters to stop, according to prosecutors, but the teen continued to drive — hitting the 37-year-old relative, sending him flying through the air.
The teen then hit his father with the car a second time, prosecutors allege. He also struck his mother, who'd been tending to Terrell Peters, breaking her leg.
Tarrill Peters is accused of then circling the block to make a third and final pass at his father, who was still lying in the street. The teen's relative and mother were able to move out of the way before Peters hit his dad a final time and sped off, Reardon said.
Terrell Peters was rushed to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:02 a.m. Feb. 14, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. Peters sustained skull fractures, lacerations on both lungs, pelvic fractures and injuries to his aorta.
Tarrill Peters' mother was treated at Loyola University Medical Center for a broken leg, while the 37-year-old relative went to West Suburban Hospital for abrasions and bruises to his leg, shoulder and hand, prosecutors said.
In court Wednesday, Peilet tried to argue that he disagreed with the state's versions of events and that Tarrill Peters never intended to hurt his father — but he was cut off by Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr.
"One time passing through the scene with his car," I understand, the judge said. "But three times? That shows some impulse problems."
Judge Bourgeois denied Tarrill Peters' bail. Peilet after court said he plans to appeal the decision as soon as possible; he believes his client deserves bail.
According to prosecutors, a portion of the incident was captured on nearby surveillance footage. It was not clear Wednesday what exactly the cameras depicted.
Multiple witnesses identified Tarrill Peters as the person driving the Buick, Reardon said. The car was impounded, and police found front-end damage. There was blood and DNA evidence on the front bumper.
Tarrill Peters recently graduated from Streamwood High School and lives with his mother and siblings in suburban Streamwood, his attorney said. The teen's mother has been supportive since the February incident.
"It's a kid with no background, a high school graduate, with no history of violence," Peilet said. "He is distraught. It's his first arrest."
Peilet suggested Wednesday that the beating by Tarrill Peters' mother's relatives could've caused Terrell Peters' death. There's a long history of bad blood between Terrell Peters and the relatives, Peilet said: "They hadn't gotten along in years."
Peilet insists his client didn't run over Terrell Peters three times, and that the state is getting its eye-witness information from the men who beat Terrell Peters.
Tarrill Peters is next slated to appear in court in September.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
