Aurora Man To Serve 12 Years For Crash That Killed Oswego Coach

AURORA, IL — An Aurora man was sentenced Monday to serve a dozen years in prison after being convicted of multiple charges stemming from a fatal hit-and-run crash two years ago in Kendall County.

Nehemiah Williams, 40, received a 12-year prison sentence in connection with the death of 26-year-old Amanda Stanton, who was a softball coach at Oswego High School, according to a report by Kendall County Now. Williams crashed a minivan into Stanton’s vehicle on the night of June 23, 2018, and did not report the accident, the report states.

Stanton, of Lockport, was reportedly attending a wedding at a nearby venue prior to the crash.

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A groundskeeper found Stanton’s body the next afternoon several feet from the side of Plainfield Road in rural Oswego Township, Kendall County Now reports.

Stanton served as the head softball coach for the Oswego High School girls volleyball team from 2016-2018. In the days after her death, she was remembered by school officials as a "motivational leader, instilling her athletes with confidence and positivity."

"Amanda was one of the best and brightest young women I have had the honor to work with and mentor; she had so much to offer and will be missed by all that were fortunate enough to know her," Community Unit School District 308 Athletic Director Darren Howard said in a statement. "Amanda's work with the softball program had remarkable results."

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Stanton's family and officials from Oswego High School established a scholarship in the days after her death to honor a senior softball player each spring. The scholarship is given to someone who "demonstrates outstanding character and leadership on and off the field," the school's athletic department said in 2018.

Williams was convicted in January of reckless homicide and failure to report the accident, both felonies, according to the report. He also pleaded guilty to driving with a revoked or suspended license, the report states.

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Dawn Projansky, Williams’ attorney, filed a motion for Kane County Chief Judge Robert Pilmer to reconsider Williams’ conviction, but Pilmer denied the motion Monday, the report states. Pilmer sentenced Williams to serve nine years in prison and two years on parole for not reporting the fatal accident, and three years in prison and one year on parole for driving with a revoked or suspended license, Kendall County Now reports.

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Pilmer sentenced Williams to serve those sentences consecutively, but Williams will serve his three-year sentence for reckless homicide while in prison for failing to report the fatal accident, the report states. He will receive credit for serving almost nine months in jail before his sentencing, according to the report.