A man was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for each of the five deaths he caused when he sped through a stop sign and slammed into an SUV carrying a family to Bible camp in Will County in 2017.
Killed in the collision were Lindsey Schmidt, 29, who was pregnant, and her sons Kaleb, 1, Weston, 4, and Owen, 6.
Sean Woulfe, 30, from Beecher will serve the five sentences concurrently, or all at the same time. With 172 days credit for time he has already spent in jail, Woulfe will serve another year and a half behind bars, according to the Will County state’s attorney’s office.
Woulfe had pleaded guilty to reckless homicides charges last year following a mistrial in March. He faced up to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Woulfe was driving his pickup truck at more than 80 mph when he blew past a stop sign and struck Schmidt’s SUV near the intersection of Yates Avenue and Corning Road in Beecher on July 24, 2017.
Schmidt was driving her three sons to Bible classes at Trinity Lutheran Church in Crete. She and Kaleb were pronounced dead at the scene. Weston died at Comer Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago the following night, and Owen died two days later.
Friends said Schmidt and her husband, Edward Schmidt, were active in their church and the community. Lindsey Schmidt had been pregnant with the couple’s fourth child.
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After the crash, Woulfe was taken to St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights, police said. He was transferred to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn to undergo minor reconstructive surgery for a large cut to his arm.
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