Warrant issued for driver in deadly '06 Metra crash

An arrest warrant was issued Friday for a Carpentersville woman who failed to appear in court on reckless homicide charges stemming from a 2006 crash with a Metra train that killed two of her sisters and her 8-month-old nephew.

Epifania Alvarez-Navarrette, 26, was a no-show for a pretrial conference scheduled before Kane County Judge Timothy Sheldon, who ordered the arrest warrant. Sheldon set her bond at $20,000.

Alvarez-Navarrette has been charged with three counts of reckless homicide in the December 2006 crash at Elgin's Kimball Street Metra crossing. She is accused of driving around barricades, past activated warning bells and into a train's path.

Killed were Alvarez-Naverrette's two sisters of the same last name, Antonia and Raquel, and Raquel's infant son Fernando. Alvarez-Navarrette and four other youngsters in her minivan suffered various injuries.

Relatives have said the driver might have been rushing a sick child to the doctor, or was in a hurry to get home and cook dinner for her family, when the accident happened.

On Friday, Sheldon said he would let Alvarez-Navarrette explain her absence if she returns to court before police track her down. Her attorney, Maria Najera, said several attempts to reach her client were unsuccessful.