Inset: Kirby Graham (Haliburton Funeral Chapel). Background: The Illinois auto repair shop accused of allowing Graham to drive away with a faulty exhaust system, allegedly resulting in his death and that of a co-worker from carbon monoxide poisoning (Google Maps).
A visit to an Illinois auto repair shop allegedly ended with a dangerous exhaust defect left unrepaired—and two co-workers later dying from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit.
The family of 20-year-old Yeisimar Morales-Sanchez filed suit against Amerimex Mufflers, Brakes & Auto Repair, Inc., in Grayslake. The complaint alleges the shop failed to properly address exhaust problems in a vehicle owned by her co-worker, 32-year-old Kirby Graham, yet allowed him to “leave its facility and continue driving” the car.
According to an amended complaint filed last month and obtained by Law&Crime on Tuesday, Morales-Sanchez was a passenger in Graham’s vehicle when both were “overcome by carbon monoxide” while sitting in the parked car in Crystal Lake on Nov. 4, 2025. A passerby noticed the pair and believed they were “possibly asleep” before contacting authorities, police said in a press release.
Police officers and a firefighter found Graham and Morales-Sanchez unresponsive inside the vehicle. Emergency lifesaving efforts failed, and both were pronounced dead at the scene.
“As a direct and proximate result of defendant’s negligence [Morales-Sanchez] was overcome by carbon monoxide fumes while sitting in Kirby Graham, the deceased’s automobile,” the family’s complaint states. It says both victims died from “carbon monoxide toxicity.”
The lawsuit claims Graham took his vehicle to Amerimex for an “exhaust system inspection,” but employees allegedly “permitted” him to leave the shop with the exhaust system still in a dangerous condition.
“Despite defendant addressing Kirby Graham, deceased’s exhaust system, defendant allowed Kirby Graham, deceased to leave its facility and continue driving his automobile,” the complaint alleges. The filing further claims the defective system allowed excessive amounts of carbon monoxide to enter the passenger compartment.
The complaint says the inspection should have alerted the business that the exhaust system was “defective” and “in an unreasonably dangerous condition.” It also alleges Amerimex knew, or should have known through ordinary care, that unsafe levels of carbon monoxide were entering the vehicle.
Police and court documents say the co-workers died sometime later that night and were discovered at approximately 5:32 a.m.
SEE ALSO: Six-Year-Old Boy Found Alive in Mountains After Three-Day Search
The McHenry County Coroner’s Office listed “carbon monoxide toxicity” as the cause of death for both Graham and Morales-Sanchez. Their deaths were ruled accidental, while investigators allegedly found a “defective exhaust system” in Graham’s vehicle.
The two victims were employed at the same local manufacturing facility.
Morales-Sanchez’s family is seeking damages for her death as well as the suffering she allegedly experienced before she died. The lawsuit claims she remained conscious and endured pain as carbon monoxide overtook her.
The complaint also includes allegations under the Illinois Automotive Repair Act. Those claims accuse the business of failing to provide a written estimate, secure authorization for the work and issue an accurate invoice.
The family is seeking more than $100,000 on each of two claims: wrongful death and survival. The lawsuit also requests court costs and interest.
Amerimex has not filed a response to the lawsuit. Court records show that a special process server tried three times to serve the business without success, and no attorney has appeared on its behalf.
The case is set for another hearing on Nov. 5. Attorney Guy D. Geleerd Jr., who represents Morales-Sanchez’s estate, is expected to ask the judge to approve an alternative method of serving the company.
When Law&Crime contacted Amerimex on Tuesday, a manager said the business was “aware of it” and indicated that the owner “is the one dealing with that situation.”
The post Illinois auto shop accused of letting customer drive away with ‘defective exhaust system’ before he and 20-year-old passenger died of carbon monoxide poisoning first appeared on Law & Crime.
YOU MAY ALSO READ: Amanda Goff Slams Zoë Foster Blake’s Latest ‘Tone-Deaf’ Whinge
