Doyle Meets With Weeks, Says He’ll Get Back To Them

August 18, 1995

Family of girl killed in hit-and-run accident wants attorney general to assign investigator

By JENNIFER BENESCH

Tribune Staff Writer

The family of Deidre Week, who was killed in March, is hopeful a Thursday meeting with Wisconsin Attorney General James Doyle will bring additional help to the case.

The Weeks, of rural Vesper, began circulating petitions last weekend, asking Doyle to urge the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation to assign a special investigator.

The petition the family took to Madison had about 2,500 signatures, the Weeks said, and Deidre’s cousin, Kelli Sparks, also sent a petition she started for friends of Deidre that contained more than 100 signatures.

“The petition is what got us the interview,” Brenda Week, Deidre’s mother, said Thursday night.

The Weeks are asking for a special investigator to look at discrepancies in witness statements about the events of the evening of March 24, when Deidre, 11, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding her bicycle northbound on County Trunk HH near her home north of Vesper.

“We’re really hopeful,” Mrs. Week said. It went really good. They gave us no definite answer but said they would get back to us.”

She said Doyle told the family his office would review the information in the case and contact them in about a week to let them know if he intends to assign a special investigator.

“It’s too early to speculate on the outcome, but Attorney General Doyle felt it was a good meeting,” said Jim Haney, public relations officer in the attorney general’s office.

“We need to gather some more information and also consult with the Wood County sheriff before any determination is made about any possible role of this office,” he said.

“They asked the questions Wood County (Sheriff’s Department) should have been asking us. You could tell they are professionals,” Mrs. Week said.

The Weeks met with Doyle for about 45 minutes and then with Robbie R. Lowery, director of Organized Crime and General Investigations Bureau, she said.

“They went through a lot of the details, and we basically ran out of time. They spent as much time with us as they possibly could. “Someone didn’t use a gun or knife, but someone did use a car and killed Deidre. I’m sorry for the families of other children that have been killed, if they spend time with us, but if we can get them, we’re going to take them. If they say no, I just don’t know what we’ll do next.