Driver in fatal St. Clair County crash had blood alcohol five times legal limit
A Trenton man who was killed in a car crash along with a mother of five and her 10-year-old son had a blood-alcohol level five times the legal limit, according to a toxicology test.
Blaise Nowak, 21, who had previously been cited for reckless driving in St. Clair County and for DUI in Madison County, died in a head-on collision that also took the lives of Ashley Koehler, 38, and Jacob Emmerich-Tomlin, 10, on U.S. 50 near the Clinton County line on the evening of March 17. Koehler’s youngest child sustained serious injuries in the crash.
Nowak’s parents said he had spent the day helping a friend repair a roof and shed that was damaged during recent storms and was on his way home to clean up and take his girlfriend to dinner.
According to toxicology test results, performed by NMS Labs in Horsham, Pennsylvania, and confirmed by St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr., Nowak had a blood-alcohol concentration of .41% when he died. The legal limit in Illinois is .08%.
Blood-alcohol concentration at or above .40% can be life-threatening even when motor vehicles aren’t involved, according to multiple medical sources. The National Library of Medicine says a person with a .40% blood-alcohol concentration is at risk for coma or death. Even at .08%, it says, walking and speaking can be difficult and confusion, nausea and drowsiness is common.
Koehler’s sister, Amber Emmerich, provided a written statement on behalf of her family:
“We want the truth. No one can tell us how to feel till they have to deal with the things we are dealing with. We look Ashley’s children in their eyes every single days and just keep reminding them how much their mom and brother loved them. The BAC level was a major blow to our family. We knew he had been drinking but to that extent, shocked us.
“(Nowak’s) addiction and everyone enabling him, not making him take accountability, not only left children without a mother and brother, it left my 3-year-old niece to fight to have her life back. She is making progress but she shouldn’t have to go through any of this. No one should have to.”
The News-Democrat contacted Nowak’s parents and they declined to comment.
Nowak had previous DUI
Nowak was previously charged in Madison County for driving under the influence of alcohol in November 2021. His criminal record in both Madison and St. Clair counties reflect a pattern of traffic violations.
In St. Clair County, Blaise had been issued 11 citations dating back to February 2020, most of which were classified as Class P, or “minor,” traffic violations.
Four of those citations, however, came from a single incident in March 2023, including driving more than 20 mph over the speed limit, improper passing on the left and reckless driving, which is a Class A, or “major,” violation.
Those cases were pending in St. Clair County Circuit Court at the time of his death. He was scheduled to next appear in court on May 15.
Nowak’s record in the Madison County Circuit Court also shows citations issued in May, October and August 2021. It was within a month of being sentenced to driving school following a guilty plea to driving 20-25 mph above the speed limit that Nowak was arrested and charged with the DUI.
He had just turned 18 at the time of the offense and was sentenced to court supervision and treatment for alcohol use and levied $1,500 in fees and penalties.
Crash details emerge from police, coroner’s report
According to Illinois State Police, Koehler was headed westbound on U.S. 50 at 8:49 p.m. on the night of the crash, with both her son and 3-year-old daughter in the backseat of her month-old black Honda Pilot SUV.
Nowak was driving eastbound in his mother’s Lincoln MKZ. He crossed into the westbound lane at a high rate of speed to pass another driver, who was interviewed at the scene by responding troopers.
The Pilot and Lincoln collided head on near Clinton County Line Road. The Lincoln caught fire, the state police report states.
Nowak and Jacob, Koehler’s 10-year-old son, were pronounced dead at the scene. Koehler was unresponsive when she was extracted from the driver’s seat of the Pilot. From the ambulance, EMS crew detected no signs of life, according to a report from the Clinton County Coroner’s office. She was pronounced dead 9:39 p.m.
The only survivor of the crash was Koehler’s youngest child, 3-year-old Gracie. She spent three weeks at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis and has since been transferred to Rankin Jordan Pediatric Center with a broken leg and head injuries.
This story was originally published April 11, 2025 at 12:13 PM.
