Driver gets 8 years in wrong-way crash that killed 1 law student and severely injured another
Both a victim’s mother and the defendant were tearful on Thursday as an Illinois judge imposed sentence in a drunken-driving crash that killed one University of Chicago law student on the verge of graduation and severely injured another.
Erik Johnson, 25, apologized for the accident, which occurred in the wee hours in May 2014 as he was driving the wrong way on a curving northbound segment of Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, near Navy Pier. With the agreement of both victims’ families, he pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated driving under the influence and was sentenced to an eight-year prison term, the Chicago Tribune (reg. req.) reports.
Killed in the crash was Laura Anne LaPlante, 26, who was a passenger in a taxi along with her friend and classmate Michael Wasil. He survived and has recovered well physically but suffered brain injuries that make it difficult for him to speak in complete sentences, an attorney for his family says. Both families have filed civil suits over the accident.
In the aftermath of the accident, “certain truths that I had always taken to be self-evident were instantly shattered,” said Judith Wasil, who attended the Chicago hearing without her son. “We were no longer a normal, happy family. My son was lying in a hospital bed hooked up to machines and fighting for his life. My family had suffered one of the worst tragedies a family can experience.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “U of Chicago law student leader dies after wrong-way traffic crash; driver is charged in DUI case”
