A man accused of causing the car accident that led to the death of his wife is facing charges related to the incident, according to local sources. The Illinois man is facing a Class 3 felony charge of reckless homicide and a Class 2 felony charge of aggravated DUI causing death. The one-car crash happened back on Jan. 24 of this year.
The details of the crash were not available as of this report. However, it has been confirmed that a passenger in the vehicle on the night in question, a 54-year-old woman identified as the man’s wife, suffered severe injuries in the crash and was pronounced dead. The accident took place on Interstate 64 in East St. Louis.
The man’s arrest record was also not included in the report, so it is unknown how police came to believe the man was intoxicated at the time of the accident or what steps were taken to come to that determination. The man surrendered to police voluntarily on the night of July 10 and was taken into custody. He has since paid the requisite 10 percent of his $40,000 bond and has been released pending a court date, which has not yet been announced.
The magnitude of this tragedy cannot be overstated, as the victim in the fatal crash was the accused man’s wife. In order for Illinois prosecutors to convict the man on either felony charge he faces, they will need to provide compelling evidence that he was drunk when the accident occurred. The defense may wish to determine what tests were conducted to determine the man’s sobriety and ensure they were performed in line with professional standards. If the tests were conducted in a manner that deprived the man of his rights, the results could be excluded from evidence at trial.
Source: bnd.com, “Lebanon man facing reckless-homicide charge in crash that killed wife”, , July 11, 2014