Family sues Metra and rail company over Marin Lacson's death in Barrington

BARRINGTON, Ill. - Nearly eight months after the tragic death of 17-year-old Marin Lacson, her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Metra, Union Pacific Railroad Company, and the Village of Barrington.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday morning alleges the teenager’s death would have been prevented if additional safety measures had been taken.

While walking to school in January, the Barrington High School student was struck and killed by an oncoming train at the Hough Street Crossing, located near Hough and Main Streets.

The teen's family alleges that safety equipment—including pedestrian gates installed at other Barrington railroad crossings—could have saved her life.

"She left her home that morning, said goodbye to her family and she was on her way," said Jim Pullos, partner at Clifford Law Offices.

As a high school junior, it was a walk Lacson had taken hundreds of times, but when she left home on the morning of January 25, 2024, there was no way to know it would be her last.

"The tragedy here is this was entirely preventable," said Pullos. "[The family] wants to make a difference. They want to prevent anything like this from ever happening again."

Around 7:45 a.m. on the morning of her death, the family’s attorney said Lacson waited at the Hough Street Crossing for a train to pass. While there are gates to block vehicular traffic, there are none in the pedestrian walkway.

With dense fog in the area, Pullos said Lacson didn’t realize another train was approaching from the opposite direction.

"There was incredibly dense fog. As she waited for that outbound train to leave the area, unbeknownst to her, there was a silently approaching inbound train," said Pullos.

Lacson, a lacrosse player and member of her school's Chinese Immersion Program, was struck and killed. 

The lawsuit alleges negligence, stating that despite previous accidents involving pedestrians at the same crossing, safety upgrades were not made.

"One of those included a fatality, and the other took place approximately 11 years prior to Marin’s death," said Pullos. "Based on information provided to us by the State of Illinois, no engineering study had ever been done."

The complaint also points out that there have never been any train collisions involving pedestrians at three other Barrington crossings – Main Street, Hart Road, and James Street. What those crossings share is that they already have pedestrian gates.

"The family hopes the lawsuit will encourage communities and railroad companies to install and manage pedestrian safety measures, including gates and warning systems," said Pullos.

In a statement, a Union Pacific Railroad Company spokesperson said:

"At Union Pacific, safety is the key foundational pillar of everything we do. Our thoughts are with the Lacson family and community impacted. At this time, we have not had the opportunity to review the lawsuit."

The Village of Barrington also acknowledged the lawsuit Wednesday. A village spokesperson provided a summary to FOX 32 of both the immediate steps taken in the aftermath of Lacson’s death, along with recent updates.

Since the tragedy, the village reports that it has updated signage and pavement markings, put uniformed safety monitors in place before and after school, and is working with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to install pedestrian crossing gates.

"The ICC has allocated $1.15 million in funding from its Crossing Safety Improvement Program. This funding will be used to install pedestrian crossing gates at the Union Pacific (Metra) crossings on Hough Street (Route 59), Main Street and Hillside Avenue (at Route 14)," the village spokesperson shared.

Additionally, an underpass project scheduled to start this year aims to eliminate some rail crossings by installing a pedestrian underpass that will connect the Village Center and Barrington High School, according to village officials.

A spokesperson for Metra tells FOX 32 Chicago they cannot comment on pending litigation.