Mother Sues Police for Taking Nude Photos of Daughter after Car Crash

At the time, a Cook County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson called the allegations “bizarre,” adding, “There were multiple independent witnesses on the scene that night and crime scene photographs taken which would have prevented the scenario described from happening. We’re sorry for the family’s loss.”

Now that the case is set for trial, though, the Chicago Tribune reports, the Cook County’s sheriff’s office isn’t denying that the photos were taken, and the Trib was shown copies of the photos by the Mejia family’s lawyer. Now, though, Cook County says they were necessary procedurally: “The family suffered an unimaginable loss, and the crime scene photos were taken as our officers investigated this crime and were instrumental in securing a conviction against the person responsible for this tragic death,” a different spokesperso told the paper. “In no way were these photos intended to cause harm to the family.”

Mejia’s mother Christina also told the Tribune that she felt the photos helped contribute to a perception that her daughter was somehow “responsible” for the accident. She said that false rumors spread after the accident that Sord had crashed the car because Jessica was “straddling” him.

“(People) think my daughter died from having sex, not from somebody being drunk and killing her,” Christina told the paper. “Because they took these photos, by the time everybody else got to the scene, all the ambulances and everybody else, she was partially naked because they made her naked,” Mejia said. “So the rumors, and the allegations … they made it believable.”

Correction: An earlier version of this post said Mejia had been thrown from the vehicle; the lawsuit alleges she was in the vehicle when she died and that Cook County investigators moved her body when they arrived at the scene. I regret the error.

Image via Shutterstock.