Family of man killed in drunken Oak Brook joy ride seeks mercy for driver
Maureen Fitzsimons lost her husband, Thomas, in a 2013 crash caused by his best friend of 35 years who lost control of a car while driving drunk during a joy ride on a dark and winding road in Oak Brook.
Both men were intoxicated, testimony Thursday showed. The driver, William Decero, survived but was seriously injured in the one-car crash.
The morning after the accident, Maureen stood by Decero's hospital bed. She forgave him.
"I knew the only person hurting as much as we were was Billy," Fitzsimons testified during Decero's sentencing hearing. "I wanted him to know I thought it was an accident. I've shown support for Billy from the beginning and I haven't wavered."
She asked Judge Daniel Guerin not to send Decero to prison.
Decero, 51, of Downers Grove now faces as much as six years in prison, the maximum prosecutors agreed to seek when he pleaded guilty in August to aggravated DUI.
Judge Daniel Guerin's courtroom was filled to capacity with Decero's supporters. Several were left standing in the hallway for the nearly three-hour hearing.
Decero's wife, Julie, testified that despite the support, she will struggle to support the family if her husband is sent to prison.
"This terrible tragedy has broken our hearts but not torn us apart," she said. "The grief and sorrow is almost too much to bear. It's hard to want to go on living with this."
Prosecutors said the Deceros and Fitzsimonses attended a party together on the evening of Sept. 21, 2013, but Julie DeCero and Maureen Fitzsimons left early. William DeCero and Thomas Fitzsimons left a short time later and stopped at the York Tavern in Oak Brook on their way home.
From there, they went to Fitzsimons' home on the 200 block of Bonnie Brae Road in Hinsdale. Once there, they parked Decero's car and jumped in Fitzsimons' new Lexus.
Maureen said her husband enjoyed driving the car around the "loop," a scenic, curving road not far from their home. When she woke up at 2:30 a.m. and saw the garage door open and the car gone, she assumed that's where the men were. But Decero was driving.
Oak Brook police Sgt. Danny Ramirez testified Decero lost control of the vehicle, swerved off the road and crashed into a wooded area at Spring Road and Salt Creek Circle.
Decero was traveling at least 78 mph on the 25-mph road when he lost control, Ramirez testified.
Oak Brook police found both men still in the vehicle, both wearing seat belts. Fitzsimons was pronounced dead at the scene.
Decero was released from the hospital two days after the crash and was immediately taken into custody. Prosecutors said his blood-alcohol level was .139 percent. Fitzsimons' level was .224. The legal threshold is .08.
Guerin will decide Decero's sentence at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 19 in Courtroom 4014.