The wrong-way driver involved in a crash that killed an Illinois State Police trooper has been identified as a 44-year-old Calumet City man.
Trooper Gerald Ellis was on-duty in his squad car traveling home Saturday on westbound I-94 just east of the IL-176 exit when Dan Davies, who was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes, struck him head-on.
Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper said an autopsy performed Monday showed Davies died from multiple injuries due to a car crash. Toxicology results are pending.
Ellis is the third ISP trooper killed in a crash since the beginning of 2019.
Trooper Brooke Jones-Story was killed Thursday when a truck struck her in Freeport. A vehicle fatally hit Trooper Christopher Lambert in January near Northbrook.
Ellis was an 11-year state police veteran with District 15 in Downers Grove. He was a U.S. military veteran and had a wife and two children.
The following statement was posted on the Illinois State Police Facebook page:
“Jerry will be remembered as the foundation of our family and the community. Through his compassion, devotion, and nurturing abilities, he supported anyone that crossed his path. Each day, he will be remembered as a husband and father who was noble and altruistic. He was the person that would lend a helping hand without having to be asked. Acceptance, respect, and dignity are characteristics he displayed with the greatest of ease. His daughters described him as the best dad in the world, a hero, who adored them and showed them the tender unconditional love that only a father could. He was a loyal and dedicated husband, providing love and laughter, teamwork and understanding, happiness and excitement; there was never a lack of effort when it came to his family. We would like to thank and extend our condolences to every individual and organization who has helped and supported us at this time, including the Illinois State Police, all extended law enforcement agencies, first responders, hospital staff, family, friends, neighbors, and all the individuals we have not had the chance to meet in person.”
