Community Corner

Drunk Driving Killed Chesterfield Teacher; Still Talking Settlement

It's Patrick J. McCormick versus the law, and Janet Esrock's death.

A Chesterfield resident who pleaded "not guilty" to charges of driving drunk and killing a 50-year-old Chesterfield woman and maiming her teenage son, has a new date set for settlement talks, on June 7.

Pre-trial talks between Patrick J. McCormick's lawyers and St. Louis County prosecutors have been ongoing at least since November.

Police said McCormick, 54, The pair were returning home from a friend's football game.

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The Esrocks were hospitalized. Janet Esrock never regained consciousness and died September 11. Jon Esrock had multiple surgeries, and eventually returned home to a limited school schedule.

Janet Esrock, a Chesterfield resident, taught math and coached field hockey at the private Whitfield School in Creve Coeur. All three of her children went to Whitfield.

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McCormick was arraigned November 9, and was free the next day on $100,000 bond. He worked for Saint Louis University Medical Center in maintaining the complex of buildings, at the time of the crash.

Since March, the court docket entries for McCormick's case show "settlement conference" instead of the previous "pre-trial conference,"  according to casenet.com which is an online listing of Missouri court cases. 

A new plea deal could potentially come out of the case, without a trial, but neither side is revealing any details of the status of the case.

Attorneys for McCormick sought and won a change of judges in the case three times.

McCormick was charged with two counts, one for Janet Esrock, and one for her son.

  1. Felony: Involuntary manslaughter, 1st degree-vehicle, intoxication, death of a non-passenger, two or more persons, blood alcohol content .18% or more
  2. Felony: Assault 2nd degree, operating a vehicle while intoxicated resulting in injury 


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