Wrongful death lawsuit filed against estate of Algonquin eye doctor charged in stabbing

The daughter of a woman stabbed to death in her Schaumburg apartment filed a wrongful death lawsuit late last month against the estate of the accused killer who died of COVID-19 while awaiting trial.

Dominika Daniel, 28, of Itasca, is named as the independent administrator of the estate of Malgorzata “Margaret” Daniel, 48. Daniel was fatally stabbed nearly 30 times by Anthony Prate following a dinner party on Nov. 23, 2019.

The lawsuit seeks an award in damages “in an amount in excess of $75,000,” Teresa A. Minnich, an attorney from Robbins DiMonte, wrote in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that “Prate intentionally stabbed (Daniel) with intent to injure or kill, and/or with knowledge that stabbing was likely to kill (Daniel.)”

Prate, 57, of Algonquin, was charged with first-degree murder in Cook County. He was out of jail on a $300,000 cash bail, 10% of his total $3 million bond, living with his mother on an ankle monitor in Tinley Park when he contracted COVID-19.

Prate, who worked as an eye doctor in Lake Zurich and Barrington, died Dec. 17 at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital, Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office spokeswoman Natalia Derevyanny said. His cause of death is listed as hypoxemic respiratory failure due to pneumonia brought on by COVID-19.

Daniel’s death in 2019 reignited an interest in the death of Prate’s wife, Bridget Prate, who was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital following a car crash in Lake in the Hills.

Following conflicting autopsies and a lengthy investigation, no one – including Prate, who was driving the vehicle and emerged from the crash with minor injuries – was charged in connection with her death.

In the civil lawsuit, set for a hearing April 7 in the Daley Center in Chicago, Daniel, and her sister Patrycja “Tricia” Daniel, 29, are listed as their mother’s only heirs who have suffered “personal and pecuniary loss.”

Their loss includes the “loss of money, benefits, goods, services, companionship, society, and emotional support … grief, sorrow, and mental anguish,” a result of their mother’s death.

Retired attorney Henry Sugden, of Woodstock, who is not connected to the case, said this is a standard wrongful death lawsuit requiring proof Prate is responsible for Daniel’s death and then determining “what is that life worth.”

Attorneys could add another count of pain and suffering for any pain she may have felt, he said.

At a hearing last week in Rolling Meadows courthouse, where Prate would have been tried for Daniel’s murder, Judge Samuel Betar III was informed Daniel’s daughter filed a wrongful death lawsuit. He also acknowledged receiving a copy of a motion requesting he not release the $300,000 bond to Prate’s family. A date for March 16 was set so the judge could ensure the “appropriate procedure” was being followed.