South Elgin man charged in death of St. Charles woman
A South Elgin man has been charged with reckless homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs in a May 31 crash that killed a female passenger, police said Monday.
Erik McKay, 27, of the 7N000 block of Smith Road in South Elgin, was arrested Monday, South Elgin Police Sgt. Mike Doty said.
"Officers at the scene detected an odor of alcohol in his breath and through the course of investigation they (came to) believe he was potentially involved with marijuana in his system," Doty said. "What took a bit of time was determining the speeds that the individual was driving at, which led to the arrest today."
The crash happened about 2:46 a.m. when McKay apparently was traveling between 106 mph and 117 mph in a 45 mph zone and lost control of the vehicle near South McLean Boulevard and Stearns Road, authorities said. McKay was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The passenger, Amy Carlson, 25, of St. Charles died from her injuries. Firefighters from the South Elgin and Countryside Fire Protection District had to extricate her from the vehicle, Doty said.
McKay was charged with: aggravated driving under the influence in an accident causing death, a Class 2 felony; reckless homicide, a Class 3 felony; and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, a Class A misdemeanor. He initially had been cited for driving with a suspended license and driving too fast for conditions/failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, according to Kane County records.
The Kane County accident reconstruction team and the Kane County coroner's office assisted with the investigation, Doty said. The case remains under active investigation pending reconstruction, toxicology reports and the coroner's report, he said.
Aggravated DUI has a sentence ranging from probation under "extraordinary circumstances" to 14 years in prison. Any sentence must be served at 85 percent.
According to court records, McKay was arrested and charged with two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery in late August 2018. He was accused of punching a woman he knew in the body and face, giving her a black eye and causing her to lose consciousness, records show.
The charges were later upgraded to felony aggravated domestic battery, a crime punishable by up to three years in prison, after prosecutors learned McKay had a previous domestic battery conviction, records show.
Before McKay had been set free on bond in the 2018 case, prosecutors were seeking to have his bond modified or revoked because of a May 19 arrest in Mount Prospect for domestic battery and interfering with the reporting of domestic battery, records show.
He has pleaded not guilty in the August 2018 case and was next due in court on those charges July 10.
McKay was cited for driving while registration suspended for no insurance after a traffic stop Nov. 12 in St. Charles. He missed his next court date, was convicted and fined $1,000. He has yet to pay the fine, court records show.