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News
Suspect in crash that killed five back in court : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisSuspect in crash that killed five back in court
| Judge sets February status hearing for Sandra Vasquez
| by Tony Scott
| 12/17/2009
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An Aurora woman facing homicide and drunk driving charges in a deadly 2007 crash in Oswego in which five local teens died appeared again in Kendall County Court on Monday.
During the hearing Monday at the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville, Judge Clint Hull set a future status hearing for Sandra Vasquez for Feb. 18 at 1 p.m.
Prosecutors say Vasquez was driving a four-door 2001 Infiniti sedan packed with eight teenage passengers early in the morning of Feb. 11, 2007, when the vehicle struck and sheared off a wooden utility pole along the east side of Ill. Route 31 opposite River Run Boulevard.
Katherine Merkel, age 14; Tiffany Urso, 16, Jessica Nutoni, 15, and Matthew Frank, 17, all of Oswego, were pronounced dead at the crash scene. James McGee, 14, died of his injuries one week later.
Three other teens were injured and taken to area hospitals, and were later released.
Vasquez pled not guilty to charges of aggravated drunken driving and reckless homicide in March of 2007. Vasquez's parents put up their house to pay for her $75,000 bond.
In November of 2007, Vasquez's attorneys successfully sought to suppress a videotaped confession by Vasquez taken at the hospital as she was recovering from her injuries sustained in the crash.
However, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis appealed the ruling from the Circuit Court to the Second District Appellate Court. The Appellate Court overturned the ruling in July.
Vasquez was released from the requirements of her bond in November of 2007 pending the appeal.
Last month, Hull rejected a request by Vasquez's attorney, Kathleen Colton of Geneva, to release Vasquez on her own recognizance. Instead, Hull ruled that the $75,000 bond was still in effect, and that Vasquez's parents could again use their house for the bond.
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