Suit against Beecher liquor store where boy shot himself moved to Will County
By Janet Lundquist jlundquist@stmedianetwork.com November 14, 2012 5:34PM
Updated: December 19, 2012 11:52AM
A Will County judge will handle the lawsuit filed by the father of a 4-year-old who shot himself with a gun he found in a Beecher liquor store.
Damien Wimberly, of Lowell, Ind., filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tubby’s Wine and Spirits, 311 Dixie Highway, Beecher, in Cook County court in July.
The case was recently moved to Will County’s court system because the store owner, Bradley Sonichsen, who is also named in the suit, lives in Will County.
On July 21, 2011, Ash Wimberly, 4, and his two younger brothers went to the store with their mother, who was an employee and was scheduled to work that day.
The mother left the children in the store while she went back out to her car to get something, according to court records.
While she was outside, Ash found a loaded gun that Sonichsen kept near the cash register for employee protection.
Ten seconds later, Ash fatally shot himself in the head, according to court records.
He was pronounced dead at 10:48 a.m. that day at Franciscan St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights.
Wimberly’s lawsuit says Sonichsen should have stored the gun somewhere safe, and that one of Ash’s siblings has permanent emotional injuries as a result of the incident.
The case is scheduled to be heard in Will County court in February.
