IL Road Worker Killed On The Job Is Former Police Chief

CHAMPAIGN, IL — A road worker and former downstate police chief was struck and killed early Wednesday morning on Interstate 74 in the Champaign area, according to reports.

Steven A. Cornett, 65, of Danville, was pronounced dead at 4:45 a.m. on the scene near the 180-mile marker, according to the Champaign County Coroner’s Office. Cornett died from blunt force injuries after being hit by a vehicle, the coroner’s office said in a news release.

Cornett was the police chief in the small town of Tilton before retiring in 2017, according to The News-Gazette and Cornett's Facebook page.

Tilton Mayor Billy Wear described him as “just an all-around good guy,” according to The News-Gazette. Cornett is believed to have been moving barriers on the road at the time of the crash, Wear told the newspaper.