GUILTY IL - April Simmons & John Chiariello, killed by drunk driver, Kane Co., 4 Jan 2006

PrayersForMaura · Jan 7, 2006

As Mike Walker struggled to pull the driver from the burning wreckage of his crumpled Jeep, the man pleaded with Walker not to give up." He kept saying, "Don't leave me,'' Walker recounted Thursday, a day after the head-on crash near South Elgin killed a 27-year-old pregnant woman, her unborn baby and a 25-year-old man.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-pregnant06.html

IdahoMom · Jan 7, 2006

From PrayersForMaura's link above:

Snip

The crash killed 27-year-old April Simmons of Yorkville, who was 81/2 months pregnant with her first child and returning home from her job at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin. Her unborn daughter, whom friends said was going to be named Addison, also died in the collision, according to Kane County authorities.

Friends said Simmons and her husband, Ryan, had just finished setting up a nursery inside their home for the baby, who was due Jan. 24. "They were just so excited about the birth of their child,'' said neighbor Lisa Peterson. "They were so excited to be first-time parents.''

The couple already had lost three family members in crashes involving drunken drivers, Kane County Sheriff Ken Ramsey said.

Alcohol may have been factor

Police said Homatas apparently was trying to pass several cars on an uphill stretch of the two-lane road when his Jeep slammed head-on into the southbound Tahoe that Simmons was driving. There were no skid marks and the crash occurred in Simmons' lane, Ramsey said.

Homatas' passenger, 25-year-old John Chiariello of St. Charles, also died in the crash, which investigators said may have been triggered by alcohol and excessive speed. Homatas was in critical condition late Thursday at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

OkieGranny · Sep 6, 2015

From October 2007:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/..._dui-deaths-sentencing-elgin-riverboat-casino

A Wayne man who killed his friend and a pregnant woman in a fiery head-on collision last year was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison.

John Homatas, 26, convicted in June on aggravated DUI and reckless homicide charges, sat with his head bowed during much of Friday's sentencing hearing in a Kane County courtroom as relatives of John Chiariello and April Simmons described their loss...

Homatas and Chiariello, 25, of St. Charles, had spent the night partying with friends at a West Chicago strip club and were en route to the Elgin riverboat casino.

From August 2010:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...ip-club-homatas-and-chiariello-pregnant-woman

A $1 million settlement has been reached in a lawsuit against a suburban strip club that was filed in the wake of a drunken-driving crash that left a pregnant woman, her unborn child and a patron of the club dead, court records show.

Diamonds Gentlemen's Club in West Chicago paid $800,000 to the husband of April Simmons... The rest of the settlement went to the family of John Chiariello, 25, of St. Charles, who was riding in Homatas' car, according to court records.

GUILTY IL - April Simmons & John Chiariello, killed by drunk driver, Kane Co., 4 Jan 2006

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