Man pleads guilty to driving car into crowd of people in Alton, killing one
A Bethalto man was sentenced to 14 years in prison after admitting he drove his car into a crowd of people in Alton in 2018, killing one woman and injuring another.
Caleb Lenhardt, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated driving under the influence causing death and one count of aggravated battery on Thursday.
Lenhardt was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of failure to report a traffic crash involving injury or death and one count of aggravated battery in the death of 21-year-old Katie Bunt and in injuring 25-year-old Ashely Allgood.
Lenhardt’s jury trial began Jan. 7 in Madison County Court. After five days of testimony, the jurors submitted a note to the judge saying they were hung at a 7-5 vote on whether Lenhardt was guilty of first-degree murder or reckless homicide, according to a release from Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office.
By statute, first-degree murder requires that a killing was done with the intent to injure or cause death. Reckless homicide is a negligent act with no intent to kill or injure.
At around 3 a.m. on July 22, 2018, Lenhardt backed his car into a crowd of people in a parking lot in the 400 block of Belle Street in Alton.
According to Madison County prosecutors, Lenhardt accelerated his tires over Bunt’s body before fleeing the scene and struck Allgood with his car. Bunt died later that evening as a result of her injuries. Allgood was left with multiple injuries, including permanent nerve damage, the release stated.
The hung jury may have resulted in a mistrial. Instead, Lenhardt’s lawyers and county prosecutors negotiated a plea to the lesser charge. Bunt’s family expressed to the attorneys that they could not withstand another trial, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
“Out of respect and understanding for the family and all of the witnesses who have felt the pain of this trial, our prosecutors consulted with the defense to negotiate a plea for the defendant,” the release stated.
For the aggravated DUI causing death charge, Lenhardt was sentenced to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, of which he must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence. For the aggravated battery charge, he received a 4-year sentence. Three years of supervised parole will follow.
“We are glad to see a large number of jurors agreed with our theory of the case, but the United States Constitution requires a unanimous verdict for a citizen to be found guilty of a crime,” Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons said in the release. “Knowing we would have to risk an acquittal or try the case again, we consulted with Katie’s family and all agreed it would be best to secure a guilty plea and prison sentence instead of risking the possibility the defendant would walk without being held accountable.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 5:41 PM.
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