JOLIET, IL – An Illinois man who killed a pregnant woman and her three sons two years ago in a car crash has learned his fate. The man will only spend two years in prison for the violent crash due to his reckless driving.
Today, a Will County Judge sentenced Sean Woulfe, 30, in the deaths of a pregnant Lindsey Schmidt and her 3 young sons, who were hit & killed when Woulfe blew a stop sign in rural Beecher, Illinois, at more than 80 mph, hitting their family’s Subaru. (1/X)
— Courtney Spinelli (@CourtSpinelliTV) January 4, 2023
Sean Woulfe appeared in court at a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and reckless homicide for the deaths of 29-year-old Lindsay Schmidt, who was pregnant, and her three young sons, ages six to 19 months. Woulfe was found guilty in July of 2022.
Woulfe appeared in front of Will County Judge Daniel Rippy who sentenced him to two years in prison, two years for each child. While that sounds like he should face a total of six years behind bars, he will not as the judge ordered the sentences run concurrently and he was given credit for the 172 days in jail he has already served.
When he was sentenced by Judge Rippy, Woulfe was given the opportunity to address the court and took the time to apologize for his actions that day. He said:
“From the bottom of my heart, I am sorry…I know the Schmidt family never plans on forgiving me or not hating me, but I hope they know how sorry I am.”
The victim’s family also had the opportunity to speak at the sentencing hearing, however, they opted not to and instead had the family pastor, Reverend Frank Italiano, of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Crete, speak for them. Reverend Italiano read the statement from Schmidt’s mother, Tammy Riechers:
“After five long years, you have lied and denied everything. What you have done is unforgivable.”
The crash that took the deaths of the family happened roughly one block away from the Schmidt’s family home. Lindsay had been taking the three young boys to bible school when the crash occurred.
According to police, Lindsay had the right-of-way as she was driving the family’s 2014 Subaru north on Yates Avenue, approaching Corning Road. Woulfe, whom police allege was driving more than 80 MPH in s 2002 Chevy S10 pickup truck in the residential area, did not stop for the stop sign and struck Lindsay’s vehicle in the intersection.
More on the background of the story from 2017: https://t.co/3Z3Iy0dQod
— Courtney Spinelli (@CourtSpinelliTV) January 4, 2023
Lindsay and 19-month-old Kaleb Schmidt were both killed in the crash. Weston Schmidt, four years old, died the following day followed by Owen, six years old, two days later. Woulfe alleged only injury was to his arm during the deadly crash.
Woulfe initially appeared in court for trial in March of 2022, but that case was deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. During that trial, Woulfe’s defense attorney tried to argue that it was Schmidt who was at fault for the crash as she had the stop sign, not him, and noted how he was not impaired by alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash.
At the time the mistrial was declared, Reverend Italiano spoke about how he and the family felt when they heard the jury could not reach a unanimous decision. He said:
“There aren’t really words that fit the emotions. Disappointed does not cover it. Devastated is probably the closest that I can think of…We knew this was a possibility, especially the longer the jury took, but it’s just going to take a while to heal from this.”
https://t.co/6nYLNNM4XQ Orland Park man sentenced to two years in prison for Beecher crash that killed pregnant woman and her three children: Sean Woulfe pleaded guilty in July to reckless homicide for causing the 2017 car accident in Beecher that killed… https://t.co/XH5YTgGzCQ
— My Scanner Brain (@myscannerbrain) January 4, 2023
After the mistrial decision, prosecutors did not immediately announce if they would refile the charges and try the case a second time. However, four months later Woulfe opted to plead guilty to five of the charges against him, he had faced a total of 16.
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