Jury ends day without verdict in fatal Oswego crash
A Kendall County jury recessed Tuesday without reaching an immediate verdict for an Aurora woman accused of drunken driving during an Oswego crash that killed five teenagers.
Associate Judge Clint Hull sent the seven-man, five-woman jury home at 9 p.m. after 71/2 hours of deliberations. Members return Wednesday to continue their work.
Sandra Vasquez admits she was speeding at 2:20 a.m. Feb. 11, 2007, but the 26-year-old Aurora woman denies she was impaired. She faces a sentence of probation or up to 28 years in prison if convicted of aggravated DUI and reckless homicide.
The crash occurred after Vasquez agreed to give a ride to eight stranded teens she enountered at an underage drinking party hosted by her 18-year-old cousin in Boulder Hill.
Vasquez said she lost control and crashed into a telephone pole along Route 31 near River Run Road after a back-seat passenger bumped her seat. She also suggested another motorist cut her off.
Experts on both sides agree Vasquez's 2001 Infiniti Q30 was speeding, going more than 70 mph in a 45 mph zone, before crashing just four miles from the party. Her blood-alcohol level tested at varying degrees above the legal threshold of .08 up to about three hours after the crash, but defense attorney Kathleen Colton questioned the accuracy of the BAC results, given Vasquez's liver and stomach injuries.
The defense presented an expert who estimated the driver's blood-alcohol content to be in the range of .04 to .07. The jury requested a transcript of the expert's testimony. The transcript wasn't available until Wednesday.
"This is the one piece of evidence that is preventing us from moving forward," the jury's note read.
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.
The survivors testified they cannot recall details of the crash, but a hospitalized Rexford told police right afterward that Vasquez was "driving like an idiot" while swerving and taking sharp turns.
"Did she intend to kill and injure these kids?" Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said in his closing argument. "Of course not. But she made bad choices and there are consequences when you break the law."
Vasquez testified she consumed up to two beers and a shot of Jagermeister, mixed with an energy drink, from 11 p.m. to about midnight at a small family gathering. After midnight, Vasquez said, she and friend Anna DeLaCruz drove to a nearby house in the Boulder Hill neighborhood to pick up Vasquez's younger sister.
After waiting more than 30 minutes for Vanessa Vasquez to come out, the defendant testified, she and DeLaCruz went inside and discovered the underage drinking party. The owner of the home, Christina Melero, the defendant's aunt, returned home shortly after 1 a.m. and kicked everyone out. Melero, DeLaCruz and Vanessa Vasquez testified that the defendant appeared sober.
Colton called the events of that night "the perfect horrible storm."
"Why would she go and party with a bunch of teenagers? It makes no sense," Colton said. "She was home nursing her 6-month-old baby and in her sweatpants when she got called back out to pick up her sister. If you want to talk about blame, there's blame to go around everywhere in this case. Blame doesn't equal guilt."
Colton said Vasquez tried to do the right thing that night, but prosecutors insisted she should have known better. Evidence from blood analysis, crash reconstruction, eyewitness testimony and Vasquez's own words prove her guilt, prosecutors said.
For example, police said she initially denied being the driver. After she was confronted with Rexford's account, Vasquez told police she was behind the wheel but insisted she took it over from McGee. At trial, Vasquez admitted she was the lone driver. Vasquez said she did not know the teens but agreed to give Dillon and one other stranded boy a ride home because she felt sorry for them.
"In their inexperienced intoxicated state, they asked the wrong person to give them a ride," prosecutor Michael Reidy said. "This defendant has been pointing the finger at everyone and everything else. If this trial lasted another two weeks, we'd have 12 more explanations. She was along for the party, and along for the ride, just like everyone else."