Woman gets probation for I-355 drunk-driving crash that killed her baby
A woman whose drunken driving caused a crash that killed her baby son was sentenced Friday to four years of probation.
DuPage County Judge Michael Reidy pronounced the sentence for Alexus K. Sigle, 27, of Chicago.
He also sentenced her to serve 180 days in the DuPage County jail. She will be released immediately because she has spent 415 days in jail awaiting trial. She will have to wear an alcohol monitor for four years. Sigle is prohibited from driving during probation. She was also ordered to attend at least one Alcoholics Anonymous meeting every week, get a job, obtain a GED, and undergo mental health and grief counseling, according to court records.
DuPage County prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentence, 14 years in prison.
Sigle pleaded guilty on Jan. 19 to one count of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol - causing death.
Authorities said she had a blood alcohol content of .163, more than twice the legal standard for intoxicated driving.
Sigle was driving a Hyundai Sonata around 6:43 p.m. June 13, 2021, on I-355 near Ogden Avenue in Downers Grove. There were six children and another adult in the car. None of the children were restrained.
The adult was holding Sigle's 5-month-old son, Jace Dillard, who died of his injuries eight days later. A 6-year-old girl suffered a lacerated spleen and a lacerated pancreas.
Sigle failed to reduce speed to avoid a truck bed cover that was partially blocking a lane, according to the charges. She braked hard, drove onto the right shoulder, crossed all lanes of traffic and hit a concrete median. Her attorney argued that she had swerved to avoid a vehicle that had cut her off.
All other charges against Sigle were dropped, including charges of driving under the influence of marijuana and amphetamines, and child endangerment.