3⅓ years in prison for fatal DUI crash in Downers Grove
A Westmont man whose passenger died in a DUI crash was sentenced Thursday to 3⅓ years in prison.
Onecimo Vazquez-Velazquez, 32, will have to serve at least 85% of that sentence, but he will receive credit for the 15 months he has been in jail since the Oct. 7, 2018, crash.
Vazquez-Velazquez was found guilty in October of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol - causing death and reckless homicide.
The crash happened at 1 a.m. on Fairview Avenue near 55th Street in Downers Grove. Vazquez-Velazquez tried to pass a car by entering the oncoming lane, but lost control and hit a tree. The vehicle split in half and passenger Annajeane Dewey, 31, was killed.
Police said Vazquez-Velazquez had a blood alcohol content of .077 90 minutes after the crash. The state standard for DUI is .08.
Prosecutors had requested a 12-year sentence.
"Anna no longer gets to radiate the sparks of happiness and joy in life that she absolutely loved to create, and be a part of. She will never have the opportunity to start a family, get a new job, a financial raise, a homeowners loan, a new car, none of it. Now, it is Anna's friends and family who must live every day trying to mend the void that has been left since her death," wrote Dewey's brother, Mike Gates, in a victim-impact statement submitted to DuPage County Judge Liam Brennan. "There will be no birthday or holiday that will ever feel or be the same because of it. Life in and of itself will never hold the same light as it did before. He killed one the brightest shining, selfless souls that has ever walked this Earth."
Dewey's mother, Julie Gates, wrote that she doesn't think she can ever forgive Vazquez-Velazquez.
"I know she is our angel, but she should still be here on Earth with us, living her life, hanging out with her family, friends, brothers, watching Cowboy games with her dad when she could, baking cupcakes, enjoying the holidays that she loved so much, and snuggling with her beloved kitty. It is not right that she was so horrifically taken away from us," Julie Gates wrote.