Next up: Driver to take stand in fatal Oswego crash trial

The solemn Kendall County jury watched tearful parents describe the horror of learning their teenage child was never coming home.

Jurors listened intently as young survivors tried to recall how a fun Saturday night filled with poor adolescent choices led to a morning they'll forever regret.

And the panelists dutifully took notes during other witness testimonies - from rescuers who pulled bodies from mangled wreckage to experts enlisted to figure out what happened.

On Monday, the Aurora woman who was behind the wheel during an Oswego crash that killed five teens is expected to take the stand as her emotional trial nears a close.

Sandra Vasquez, 26, is accused of driving drunk about 2:20 a.m. Feb. 11, 2007, while giving a ride to eight stranded teens she encountered at an underage drinking party hosted by her 18-year-old cousin in Boulder Hill.

Prosecution experts projected Vasquez's 2001 Infiniti Q30 was speeding, driving 68 in a 45 mph zone, when she lost control and slammed into a telephone pole along southbound Route 31 near River Run Road, 4 miles from the party.

Both the defendant's aunt and close friend testified Friday that Vasquez was sober.

Anna DeLaCruz, 25, of Aurora, said she saw Vasquez consume one beer and a shot of Jagermeister after they met up about 11 p.m. at a small family gathering.

One hour later, DeLaCruz said, they drove to another house in the Boulder Hill neighborhood to pick up Vasquez's younger sister. Vasquez was behind the wheel.

After waiting more than 30 minutes for Vanessa Vasquez to come out, DeLaCruz said she and the defendant went inside the house to fetch her.

She said Vasquez tried to help a group of drunken teens, hoisting up one who had fallen down and retrieving a glass of water for another, but denied that the defendant took even one sip of alcohol at the party. DeLaCruz broke down in tears when she recalled one drunken teen who asked to borrow $20 for a taxi.

"No, I did not," she sobbed when asked if she complied, "because I didn't know him."

The owner of the home, Christina Melero, who is the defendant's aunt, testified she and her boyfriend returned home shortly after 1 a.m. when they discovered her teen son's party and kicked everyone out.

Melero agreed Vasquez was sober.

"If she was drinking, if she smelled like alcohol, I would not have let her drive," Melero, 42, said.

Oswego High School students Matthew Frank, 17; Katherine "Katie" Merkel, 14; James McGee, 14; Jessica Nutoni, 15; and Tiffany Urso, 16, were killed. Three other teens - Joshua Dillon, Robert Larsen Jr. and Arielle Rexford - survived.

Dillon, now 19 and from Boulder Hill, said he asked Vasquez for a ride after they met at the party. The teens arrived with another friend, but she left early after having her brother pick her up because she was too drunk to drive.

The survivors said they cannot recall the actual crash, but police testified what they said Rexford told them during a hospital interview.

"I knew we were going to get into an accident," Rexford was quoted as saying. "She was driving like an idiot."

Defense attorney Kathleen Colton suggested the crash occurred after the drunken teens jokingly grabbed the steering wheel or kicked the back of the driver's seat. Vasquez also said after the crash that another motorist cut her off.

Her blood-alcohol level was .124 percent, above the legal threshold of .08 percent, but Colton questioned whether those results were accurate since Vasquez may have vomited beforehand due to her injuries. A defense toxicology expert will testify Monday that vomiting skews results.

Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis, whose trial team includes first-assistant Michael Reidy and Robert Dore, said evidence from blood analysis, crash reconstruction, eyewitness testimony and Vasquez's own words prove her guilt.

For example, police said she initially denied being the driver. After she was confronted with Rexford's account, police said, Vasquez admitted driving but insisted she took over the wheel from McGee, 14, because he was being reckless.

In the trial's first week, prosecutors presented about two dozen witnesses and 130 physical exhibits, including graphic crash and autopsy photos.

Family members took the stand to describe their heartbreak. Mike Nutoni said he couldn't recognize Jessica's face in the photograph a Oswego police officer showed him.

"I said, 'It's not my daughter. Take DNA from me,'" Nutoni said. "I'm not used to seeing my child like that."