Another try for Lindsey’s Law, an Illinois measure increasing penalties for drunk drivers that kill someone and injure others, will have to wait for the fall.
In 2015, cosmetologist Lindsey Sharp of Springfield went to Walmart with her son and her boyfriend. In the parking lot, Antione Willis, 31, who had been drinking and smoking marijuana, hit the three with an SUV, killing Lindsey and critically injuring her young son and her boyfriend.
Then State’s Attorney John Milhiser said Willis pleaded guilty and was given the maximum sentence that the law allowed. State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, told The Center Square that the 14-year prison sentence was not long enough.
Under current Illinois law, Willis was sentenced for causing Sharp’s death. The state was unable to add more years to his sentence for the injuries he caused to Sharp’s son and her boyfriend.
If Sharp’s son or her boyfriend had died, the state could have added more years to his prison term, but because they survived, the prosecutor’s hands were tied.
“That to me does not do justice to victims in our state,” McClure said.
Lindsey’s Law would remove that barrier, he said, and if it is passed by the state legislature the state could have charged an additional four to 20 years in prison for the injuries to the son and the boyfriend.
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Suburban ne’er-do-wells, beware — South Barrington officials are set to increase the village’s already-hefty arsenal of crime-fighting automated license plate readers.
