Kevin Fox, wrongfully accused of daughter’s murder in Will County, dies in crash, attorney says

A man who was wrongfully charged with the murder of his 3-year-old daughter in Will County has died in a head-on crash in Arkansas, according to his attorney.

On Tuesday morning, Kathleen Zellner announced on her Twitter account that her client Kevin Fox, 46, formerly of Wilmington, was killed in a crash on Sunday.

“Kevin Fox a devoted father, husband and son who loved [and] lived life to its fullest dies in a tragic accident. He will be missed by everyone who loved him,” Zellner said on Twitter.

Fox was the driver of a vehicle traveling north on State Highway 7 South of Dardanelle in Arkansas, according to information from Arkansas State Police.

A second driver was traveling south on the same roadway, crossed over into the northbound traffic lane and collided with Fox’s vehicle head on, police said.

Fox had been wrongfully arrested and charged with the murder of his 3-year-old daughter Riley Fox after her disappearance from her Wilmington home in June 2004.

It wasn’t until 2010 when Scott Wayne Eby, 51, admitted to killing Riley Fox. Eby is currently serving life in prison.

Zellner was Kevin Fox’s attorney when he was charged with the murder of his daughter in October 2004 under former Will County State’s Attorney Jeff Tomczak.

Following the charge, Kevin Fox issued a statement saying he did not kill his daughter and that he was coerced into incriminating himself by Will County Sheriff’s Office investigators.

State’s Attorney James Glasgow took over the Fox case after Tomczak lost the state’s attorney election to Glasgow in November 2004.

The following year, Glasgow dismissed the charges and Fox was released from jail after DNA testing cleared him of the crime.

Fox and his wife were awarded $12.2 million in damages after claiming in a federal lawsuit that sheriff’s office investigators fabricated evidence. The amount was later reduced to $8.6 million.