Illinois man Sean Woulfe (pictured), 25, was charged with 16 counts of reckless homicide in connection to the fatal crash
An Illinois man, who was driving the pickup truck that killed a pregnant woman and her three young sons, was charged Tuesday with reckless homicide.
The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office said Sean Woulfe, 25, of Beecher, was charged with 16 counts of reckless homicide in connection to the fatal crash.
Lindsey Schmidt, 29, and her three young boys were driving to Bible camp on July 24 when Woulfe’s pickup truck slammed into them.
Police said Woulfe was going 20 miles over the 55mph speed limit and missed a stop sign.
Schmidt, her one-year-old Kaleb, four-year-old Weston and six-year-old Owen died.
At the time, Owen and Weston, were put into medical induced comas after crash.
Weston Schmidt was pronounced deceased at 5.55pm on July 25, a day after the accident, at Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago.
Six-year-old Owen died three days after the horrific crash on July 27.
Lindsey Schmidt, 29, from Beecher, Illinois, (left), her 21-month-old son, Kaleb, (top right) were killed in a car accident after a pickup truck ran a stop sign. Six-year-old Owen (front center) and four-year-old Weston (front left) died days later
Schmidt (left) and Kaleb (not pictured) were pronounced dead at the scene while four-year-old Weston (pictured in a stroller) passed away a day after the crash
Schmidt was driving her three sons at about 8.30am on July 24 to a vacation Bible camp when the 2002 Chevy S10 pickup truck ran a stop sign and crashed into the 2014 Subaru Outback with an impact so severe that Schmidt’s car was sent barreling into a cornfield (above)
The boys’ mother, Schmidt, and their one-year-old brother, Kaleb, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Schmidt was four months pregnant with her fourth child at the time of the collision.
Will County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer said at the time that Woulfe, the driver of the 2002 Chevy S10 pickup truck that slammed into Schmidt’s 2014 Subaru Outback, was issued a traffic citation.
However, investigators later dropped the citation and filed criminal charges against Woulfe.
Schmidt was driving her three boys at about 8.30am on July 24 to a vacation Bible camp in Beecher, Illinois, when the pickup truck ran a stop sign, police said.
The Chevy crashed into the Subaru with such a force that Schmidt’s car was sent barreling into a cornfield.
The two boys were initially taken to St Margaret Hospital in Indiana before being airlifted to Comer Children’s Hospital.
Woulfe was first taken to St James Hospital before being transferred to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn to be treated for his injuries.
Happier times: Eddie, Owen and Lindsey Schmidt are pictured together in 2012, celebrating the boy’s second birthday
Six-year-old Owen had spent several days in a coma, but doctors could not save him
He had to undergo minor reconstructive surgery for a large laceration to his arm, authorities said.
Woulfe also had a fractured wrist, shoulder and ankle, and bruised lungs.
At the time, Woulfe told police he had his cruise control set to 55mph, which is the speed limit, reported CLTV.
However it was determined that he was going 20 miles over the 55mph speed limit.
State’s Attorney James Glasgow said the driver faced more serious charges, and dropping the traffic citations made it easier to pursue the bigger charges.
The Schmidt family had built their house in Beecher where neighbors described them as ‘the perfect family’. Lindsey’s husband, Eddie, was not in the car at the time of the crash.
Schmidt and Kaleb were pronounced dead at the scene (pictured) while the two older boys were taken to the hospital
It was later determined Woulfe, who was driving a pickup truck (pictured) was going 20 miles over the 55mph speed limit. State’s Attorney James Glasgow said Woulfe faced more serious charges, and dropping the traffic citations made it easier to pursue the bigger charges