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Round Lake Beach driver charged with murder

A 22-year-old Round Lake Beach man was charged with first-degree murder and reckless homicide upon his release from a McHenry hospital after a head-on collision that killed a Woodstock woman Aug. 5, according to police.

Luis E. Ramirez of the 1500 block of Hickory Street in Round Lake Beach is being held at the McHenry County jail in lieu of $1 million bail on the felony charges that could put him behind bars for a maximum of 65 years, according to the McHenry County sheriff’s office.

Authorities said Ramirez was attempting to pass two vehicles while driving a Ford Expedition on the morning of Aug. 5 when he collided head on with a Mitsubishi Outlander on Tryon Grove Road in unincorporated McHenry County.

The driver of the Mitsubishi, 38-year-old Sonia Hume of Woodstock, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash about one-eighth of a mile east of Barnard Mill Road in Hebron Township, according to the sheriff’s office.

“During the course of the investigation it was determined that the crash was not an accident,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “It was an intentional act committed by Luis E. Ramirez.”

Authorities said both drivers were wearing seat belts when the collision occurred about 7:15 a.m.

Ramirez was taken to Centegra Hospital McHenry in fair condition after the crash and spent a week in the hospital, according to police.

Ramirez could be sentenced to 20 to 60 years in prison if convicted on the first-degree murder charge and two to five years if convicted on the reckless homicide charge.

Woodstock woman killed in collision

Luis E. Ramirez, 22, of Round Lake Beach has been charged with first-degree murder and reckless homicide after a head-on crash in McHenry County. courtesy of McHenry County jail