Westmont man charged with aggravated DUI in deadly crash

A Westmont man is being held in DuPage County jail on $500,000 bail, accused of crashing his car into a tree while driving drunk and killing his passenger.

Onecimo Vazquez-Valazquez, 30, of the 300 block of W. Naperville Road, is charged with aggravated DUI causing death, reckless homicide and attempting to leave the scene of an accident involving death.

Prosecutors say Vazquez-Valazquez was speeding north on Fairview Avenue near the intersection of 55th Street in Downers Grove around 1 a.m. Sunday when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree, splitting the vehicle in half and killing passenger Annajeanne Dewey.

Prosecutors said Vazquez-Valazquez immediately left the scene but returned a short time later. His blood alcohol content was .077 roughly 90 minutes after the crash.

"Once again, an innocent life has been tragically lost to an alleged drunk driver," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a written statement. "Why people continue to drink and drive is beyond me. Not only is drinking and driving dangerous, reckless and selfish, it too often turns fatal, as is alleged in this case."

Vazquez-Valazquez's next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 5, 2018 for arraignment in front of Judge Liam Brennan.