Kane drops felony battery charges against Visor
Kane County prosecutors have dismissed felony domestic battery charges against Randall Visor, an Aurora man who went to prison after a 1997 drunken driving crash that killed three Naperville teens and a mother of three.
Visor, 42, of the 1600 block of Solifsburg Avenue, was accused of fighting with a relative in February after a dispute involving taking photos of a deceased relative.
He faced up to three years in prison if convicted, but prosecutors dropped the charges Wednesday after interviewing an independent witness.
Judge Marmarie Kostelny also warned Visor to follow a two-year order of protection to not contact others involved in the dispute.
Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said Kane investigators and Aurora police interviewed a witness who was not interviewed back in February.
“Once we compared this independent witness’s statement with other evidence in this case we determined that in the interest of justice our responsibility was to ask for the dismissal of the charges against Mr. Visor,” McMahon said. “We are aware of Mr. Visor’s criminal history. However, our duty as prosecutors is to make decisions that are based on the facts known to us at the time of the arrest and developed during the subsequent investigation. We believe our actions today fulfill our professional obligation.”
Visor and his father, Ernest Visor, also of the 1600 block of Solifsburg, were both charged on Feb. 8 with fighting with a 59-year-old man in an argument after the recent death of a family member.
The elder Visor, 65, was charged with a misdemeanor, which was dismissed in late May, court records show. Randall Visor was charged with a felony because of a previous conviction for violating an order of protection in October 2005.
“We conducted a hearing and three of the state’s witnesses testified. I believe the state assessed the case afterward,” defense attorney Matt Downs said. “My client maintained his innocence from the very beginning and now the charges have been dismissed on the state’s motion. I commend (Kane County Assistant’s State’s Attorney Jamie) Mosser for maintaining a high degree of integrity.”
At 4:05 a.m. on Oct. 17, 1997, a drunk and speeding Visor ran a red light at Eola Road and New York Street in Aurora and crashed into a car that contained Waubonsie High School students Jenni Linn Anderson, Allison Matzdorf and Jennifer Roberts.
The three 16-year-olds from Naperville were on their way to prank another student and they all were killed. The crash also killed Visor’s passenger, Ana Pryor, 27.
Visor was convicted and sentenced in 1998 to 13 years in prison, but received time off for good behavior and taking self-help classes and was released in November 2002.
The case spurred lawmakers to increase reckless homicide penalties to a maximum of 28 years in prison instead of 14 years when a DUI results in multiple deaths. Offenders also must serve 85 percent of a sentence instead of 50 percent.