Reckless Homicide, DUI Charges Filed In Double Fatality

ELGIN, IL —A 21-year-old Glendale Heights man faces reckless homicide and aggravated DUI charges in connection with a crash early Wednesday that claimed the lives of two Elgin residents. Adrian Velasco, of the 500 block of Gregory Avenue in Glendale Heights, was driving a Honda sedan west on Summit Street at about 1:40 a.m. when his vehicle left the roadway, colliding with a Nissan Altima that was leaving a business near Summit and Dundee Avenue in Elgin, according to authorities. The two people in the Nissan, a 26-year-old Elgin woman and a 30-year-old Elgin man, were fatally injured, police said.

The Kane County Coroner’s Office on Thursday identified the Elgin woman as Norieli Villagomez. The man killed in the crash has been identified as Omar Pizano Zavala, according to a Kane County Coroner’s Office news release.

An autopsy performed on Villagomez revealed she died from multiple injuries. Toxicology samples have been collected and will be sent to a forensic lab for analysis, according to the coroner’s office.

An autopsy for Zavala is scheduled for Friday.

Velasco and a female passenger in his vehicle were taken to Advocate Sherman Hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening following the crash.

The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office reviewed the case and charged Velasco Thursday with four counts of aggravated driving under the influence resulting in death, a Class 2 felony; two counts of reckless homicide, a Class 3 felony; two counts of aggravated driving under the influence with no insurance, a Class 4 felony; and two counts of aggravated driving under the influence causing great bodily harm, a Class 4 felony. He has also been cited for multiple traffic offenses, according to a post on the Elgin Police Department Facebook page.

Velasco is expected to appear in Kane County bond court on Friday.

The Elgin Police Department is continuing to investigate the fatal crash. Anyone with information regarding the collision can contact the police department’s traffic unit at 847-289-2667.

The crash is the third fatality in Kane and Lake counties in recent days. Cameron V. Simmons, 10, of Addison, died Sunday evening after the minivan he was a passenger in exited the I-90 ramp to Illinois Route 47 in Huntley and left the roadway before landing on its roof in a retention pond.

• Addison Boy IDd As Child Killed After Van Went Into Huntley Retention Pond

A McHenry teen died Friday in a two-car crash in Wauconda. Danielle Elizabeth Thomas will be laid to rest in the coming days. Thomas was one of the drivers in the collision, which occurred when a black Hyundai Elantra, driven by Caleb R. Rohrbach, 18, of Cary, was heading south on Route 12 and crossed the centerline, colliding head on with a gray Ford Focus, which was driven by Thomas, according to police.

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