Four witnesses testified Tuesday about the accident that took the lives of Amanda, Ryan and Kaitlyn Jahn on Nov. 6, 2008.
The testimony was part of the sentencing hearing for Ann Marie Getz, formerly of Ransom, who pleaded guilty to an aggravated DUI charge in connection with the accident.
Josh Jahn testified his wife gave violin lessons in Joliet and would leave the children with her mother in Morris while teaching. That night, he said, Amanda called and explained she had misplaced her keys, so she was running late returning home.
A member of the Dwight Fire Department, Jahn said that, a short time later, he heard the ambulance was dispatched to provide mutual aid for an accident at Gardner Road.
Jahn said he called his wife, but she did not answer; the call went straight to voice mail.
He then drove to the Dwight Fire Station, but stayed in his car.
“I was trying to rationalize it, saying the battery had died,” Jahn said.
Jahn then drove northbound on Illinois 47, behind the ambulance. He parked next to the stop sign on Gardner Road, walked around, then saw Ryan on a stretcher, being taken to an ambulance.
“I tried to comfort him,” Jahn said.He followed the ambulance to Morris Hospital and went into the emergency room. Jahn said Ryan and Kaitlyn were next to each other in the emergency room. He could see from the monitors and from what was being said that the medical staff was having trouble getting a response.
At that time, Jahn said he did not know where his wife was. As the room started to fill with firemen and police, he knew it was bad because no one would talk to him.
Jahn said he was sitting in a chair when a doctor came over and asked for permission to stop working on the children. The doctor told him Mandy had expired at the scene.
Illinois State Police Trooper Dustin Geier, an accident reconstruction specialist, testified he was called to the accident scene on Nov. 6.
Because of the seriousness of the accident, he called for assistance. They used lasers to determine distances and angles and used software to make a map of the accident.
Geier said Getz was driving a Lincoln westbound on Gardner Road, when she entered the intersection and struck the Chevrolet Amanda Jahn was driving southbound.
He said Getz was going a minimum of 68 mph when she struck the Jahn vehicle. There was no evidence Getz ever applied her brakes.
Geier said the evidence showed Mrs. Jahn was driving at 53 mph at the time of impact.
The air bag module, he said, indicates she applied the brakes two seconds before impact.
The impact occurred in the southbound lane of Illinois 47, when the Lincoln struck the driver’s side of the Chevrolet. Following the initial impact, the Lincoln driven by Getz continued west and struck a utility pole, splintering it. Geier said the pole, which was set six feet into the ground, had been moved 14 inches at the base.
Deputy R. J. Knezevich testified he was the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the scene, after being notified at 8:07 p.m. He said it was a chaotic scene with people yelling for the ambulance to arrive.
The deputy said he checked the driver of the Lincoln, found a pulse and could smell liquor on her breath.
Two people were working on Ryan. Kaitlyn, Deputy Knezevich said, was near the Lincoln and he could not find a pulse.
The deputy identified a total of 28 photographs of the scene, including shots of both vehicles, as well as a couple pictures that show a car seat hanging out of Jahn’s vehicle.
Grundy County Det. Richard Onsen testified he interviewed six people, from three vehicles, who witnessed the accident.
He said Ann Wolfe and a passenger were in a vehicle 100 feet behind Mrs. Jahn and, when the collision occurred, she could not stop, but continued through the intersection.
Asked about Ken Bannon, Det. Onsen said it was determined he drove Getz from a bar to his residence in Coal City, where she got her car.