Double-fatal drunk crash nets Red Bud woman six years in prison

The families of two women killed in a crash in Monroe County in 2015 said Thursday they were not satisfied with the six-year prison term handed down to the woman guilty of causing the wreck.

Crystal Steinheimer, now 21, of Red Bud, was sentenced in Monroe County court Thursday in connection to the crash. She was charged in the case in May 2015 and pleaded guilty last month to aggravated driving under the influence. A reckless homicide charge was dismissed.

Steinheimer entered the courtroom Thursday wearing a tye-dyed shirt, and blue jeans. Her blonde hair was tied in a bun and she wore a gray head band and glasses. She stared straight ahead and did not react when Judge Dennis Doyle read her sentence.

Steinheimer was the driver of a 2008 Chevy Aveo that was northbound on Illinois 159 near Sunset Lane in rural Monroe County at 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2015, when she lost control of the car. The car crossed the center line and collided head-on with a southbound 2007 Chevy Cobalt.

Inside the Cobalt were Abigail Liefer, 19, of Ruma; Hannah Marie Porter, 20, of Red Bud and Grace E. Richards, 21, of Red Bud. Liefer and Porter were killed. Richards was severely injured.

Steinheimer also was severely injured. Police later revealed she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.179 percent at the time of the crash, more than twice the threshold at which a motorist is considered intoxicated in Illinois. She was 20 at the time, under the legal drinking age of 21.

In a statement he read to the court, Dan Liefer, Abigail’s father, recalled the night he, his wife and his son arrived at a hospital in St. Louis and learned Abigail did not survive.

“I cannot describe the feeling as I stood there and watched my wife and son’s instant despair. I almost couldn’t bear that. I never cried. I don’t know why,” he said. Once in the hospital room to see his daughter for the last time, Liefer said “there was so much pain.”

Liefer added that being Abigail’s father made him proud and said that he had “the best family you could pray to have.”

“I kept her text messages,” he said. “It feels like she’s talking to me.”

Teri Liefer, Abigail’s stepmother, said she didn’t think six years was enough prison time. “Our family is strong but nobody’s strong enough for this. This should have never happened. (Abigail) was taken from us because one person decided to drink and drive. I don’t think six years is enough. None of us do.”

Just more than a year ago Steinheimer was arrested by Red Bud Police in the early morning on the Pizza Hut parking lot for driving after her license was taken for the fatal crash.

“It scares me to think that she would ever be allowed to share the roadway with all the ones I love,” said Shari Marmon, Abigail’s mother, in a statement she was unable to read in the courtroom. “As a mother, there is no greater pain than to bury a child.”

Dawn Porter, Hannah’s mother, referred to a social media post Steinheimer made in June about moving on and closing a chapter in her life. “This is not a chapter for me and my family. This is a life sentence. Hannah’s life ended on Saturday, January 10, 2015, and ours did, too.”

When Doyle asked if Steinheimer had anything she wished to say in court, she said simply, “No.”

Steinheimer, who was led from the courtroom by Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies, gets 364 days of credit for time served and must serve 85 percent of her sentence, which means she’ll spend about the next four years and three months in jail.

Neither Steinheimer’s public defender nor Monroe County State’s Attorney Kris Reitz would comment following the hearing.

Civil suits related to the crash are still pending. Liefer’s and Porter’s families each filed suit last year against Steinheimer and the three taverns she’d been drinking at the day of the crash. Those taverns were named in court papers as Water Street Grill & Bar, Michael J’s Saloon and Just Sue’s, all in Evansville. The suits site the Illinois Dram Shop Act in claiming that the taverns also are responsible for the fatal crash.

This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 6:38 AM with the headline "Double-fatal drunk crash nets Red Bud woman six years in prison."