Aurora Woman Found Guilty of Five Illinois Car Accident Deaths
Sandra Vasquez could be sentenced to up to 28 years in prison for her convictions of reckless homicide and aggravated DUI in the Illinois car crash deaths of five teens. Three other teens and Vasquez sustained serious injuries during the catastrophic collision on February 11, 2007.
Vasquez, a 26-year-old Aurora woman, drank some alcohol before going to pick up her younger sister who was at their aunt’s house where an underage drinking party was taking place. She ended up giving eight teenagers a ride.
Unfortunately, at around 2:20am Vasquez lost control of her vehicle, swerved off Illinois 31, and drove into a telephone pole.
According to experts, Vasquez had been driving her 2001 Infiniti Q30 at a speed of over 70 mph in a 45 mph zone. Prosecutors have accused her of being drunk and tests taken after the accident showed that her blood-alcohol level was .105, which is beyond the legal limit for driving. However, Vasquez's criminal defense lawyer questions the tests’ accuracy because her liver was damaged during the collision. Vasquez has said that she wasn’t drunk and that she crashed the car because a backseat passenger bumped her seat and another motorist may have cut her off.
Killed in the Illinois car accident were 17-year-old Matthew Frank, 14-year-old James McGee, 16-year-old Tiffany Urso, 14-year-old Katherine Merkel, and 15-year-old Jessica Nutoni. Teenagers Robert Larsen Jr., Joshua Dillon, and Arielle Rexford sustained traumatic injuries.
Drunk driving, speeding, distracted driving, drugged driving, driving while disregarding traffic laws, texting while driving, and talking on the cell phone while operating a vehicle are just a few of the careless and reckless acts that can kill people and destroy their families' lives. Most drunk drivers never intended to hurt anyone.
You may be able to hold a negligent driver liable for Chicago car accident injuries.
Driver guilty in DUI crash that killed 5 teens, Chicago Sun-Times, July 1, 2010
Driver guilty in crash that killed 5 Oswego teens, Daily Herald, June 30, 2010
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