Estate of man fatally struck by Metra train in 2016 files lawsuit

The estate of a man who was fatally struck by a Metra train on the Rock Island District Line almost a year ago in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood is suing Metra and the Chicago Rail Link railroad service.

Wanda Wilburn, independent administrator of the estate of 22-year-old Demetri Wilburn, filed the four-count suit Monday in Cook County Circuit Court. It seeks more than $100,000 in damages each from defendants Metra and Chicago Rail Link.

Wilburn’s body was found near the tracks by an inbound Metra train about 10:30 a.m. Aug. 10, 2016, in the 8300 block of South Vincennes, authorities said.

An autopsy found he died of multiple blunt force injuries suffered when he was struck by a train, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. His death was ruled a homicide.

A train that had gone through about an hour earlier was inspected in the train yard and had blood on the lead car, a Metra spokeswoman said at the time. The crew was unaware that the train had struck anyone.

The lawsuit alleges that Metra and Chicago Rail Link knew or should have known that pedestrians regularly used a footpath to access and cross the railroad tracks near the area where Wilburn was struck.

Before Aug. 10, 2016, the agencies had installed a fence to prohibit pedestrian access to the railroad tracks, but it was in “a defective condition” because it had been bent or altered so pedestrians could pass over it, the suit alleges.

The lawsuit claims that Metra and Chicago Rail Link employees were negligent by failing to prohibit pedestrians from accessing the railroad tracks and take other precautionary measures to prevent the collision.

A representative for Metra declined to comment on the pending litigation. Chicago Rail Link representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.