Driver Charged In Beecher Crash Pleads Not Guilty
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man facing reckless homicide charges for causing a crash last month in Will County that killed a pregnant woman and her three children as she drove them to Bible camp pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.
The attorney for Sean Woulfe, 25, of Beecher, also filed a motion to reduce his client's bond from $1 million to $250,000, according to Will County court records.
Chief Judge Richard Schoenstedt signed a warrant for Woulfe's arrest Tuesday, charging him with 16 counts of reckless homicide, and he was arrested at his home without incident Tuesday morning, according to the Will County state's attorney's and sheriff's offices. He remains in custody on $1 million bond.
Woulfe, a former Manteno resident, was to appear by closed circuit video Wednesday morning, but a connection problem forced him to come to court, where he appeared in a wheelchair for formal presentation of charges.
The felony charges allege that Woulfe was speeding in excess of 20 mph over the 55 mph limit when he ran a stop sign, causing the crash that killed Lindsey Schmidt, 29, and sons Caleb, 1; Weston, 4; and Owen, 6, all of Beecher, prosecutors said.
Lindsey Schmidt was pregnant at the time of her death, and two of the counts charge Woulfe with the death of her unborn child, according to the sheriff's office.
The Beecher family was in a 2014 Subaru Outback that was struck by Woulfe's 2002 Chevrolet S10 pickup at 8:38 a.m. on July 24, in unincorporated Beecher, according to the sheriff's office.
The pickup was eastbound on Corning Road and failed to stop at a stop sign at Yates Avenue; the Subaru was struck on the driver's side and rolled over into a field, police said.
The Subaru had been headed north on Yates, and northbound traffic has no stop sign.
Lindsey Schmidt, 29, was driving the Subaru; she and Caleb were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Will County coroner's and sheriff's offices.
Her other two sons were taken to St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond, Indiana, according to the sheriff's office, then transferred to Comer Children's Hospital.
Weston Schmidt died July 25, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Owen Schmidt died July 27.
Friends said on Facebook that the family, including Edward Schmidt — Lindsey's husband and the boys' father — was active in their church and the community.
After the crash, Woulfe was taken to St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights, police said. He was transferred to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn to undergo minor reconstructive surgery for a large cut to his arm.
All of the charges against him are felonies, and he faces up to 10 years in prison.
A hearing on the motion to reduce bond will be conducted at 11 a.m. Friday before Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes, who also set Sept. 14 for an arraignment hearing.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)