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16 years prison for woman who caused fatal McHenry crash while on heroin

A 46-year-old Wisconsin woman has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of heroin and crashing into a couple on a motorcycle in McHenry, killing a woman and injuring her husband.

Sheree Ann Shaw of Twin Lakes pleaded guilty in April to aggravated DUI/reckless homicide and aggravated DUI causing great bodily harm and was sentenced Wednesday by McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather, according to court records.

Prosecutors said Shaw's 2002 Ford Taurus swerved into oncoming traffic at about 3:30 p.m. May 6, 2016, on the 2800 block of Richmond Road, crashing into a motorcycle being ridden by Amy and Michael Thornton, parents of two.

Amy, a 42-year-old nurse, was killed, while her husband suffered a broken femur and pelvis, prosecutors said.

Shaw fled to Las Vegas before she was charged with the DUI felonies after blood tests showed the presence of heroin in her system, prosecutors said. She was arrested June 22, 2016, in Nevada and extradited to Illinois a month later.

Under state law, Shaw must serve 85 percent of her sentence, which is about 13½ years. She faced a maximum of 26 years in prison.

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