Newspaper co-owner pleads guilty to reckless homicide in Southern Illinois
A Centralia newspaper co-owner has pleaded guilty to a charge in connection to the death of an Odin man in Central City this spring.
Thomas Joy, 59, admitted on Wednesday that he had disobeyed a traffic control device when his pickup struck 65-year-old Jerry Clarkson’s motorcycle on May 15, a WJBD Radio report stated. Clarkson later died from his injuries as a result of the crash at a St. Louis hospital.
Joy accepted a plea deal to the felony charge of reckless homicide and faces a sentence of two to five years in prison, the report stated.
At the time, Joy refused to take a breathalyzer test. According to the report, part of his plea agreement was dropping a driving under the influence charge and a failure to yield the right of way charge.
Joy is part-owner of the Centralia Morning Sentinel newspaper. His sentencing was set for Feb. 6 in Marion County.
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