‘It’s all my fault’: Sentencing begins for driver in crash that killed 2 of his friends

A sentencing hearing for a man who killed two of his friends when he slammed into the rear of a stopped school bus began with testimony about how he pleaded with deputies at the scene to take him to jail because “I did this. I killed them. I did this. It’s all my fault.”

The hearing for Tyler Schmidt began Wednesday with testimony from Kane County sheriff’s deputies who responded to the Oct. 31, 2022, crash on Empire Road near Campton Hills.

In body-worn camera videos shown by prosecutors, a distraught Schmidt is seen repeatedly saying that the crash was his fault and asks deputies to take him to jail.

He also tells them he had fallen asleep at the wheel and that he smoked 1 to 2 grams of cannabis earlier that day.

Schmidt, 21, of 43W000 block of Southgate Road near South Elgin in Plato Township, pleaded guilty in February to reckless homicide and aggravated reckless driving.

The crash killed two of his passengers, siblings Grace Diewald, 20, and Emil, 19. It severely injured another passenger, a 17-year-old girl, who sustained a head injury, a bruise to her spinal cord, a broken jaw, a lacerated liver and a collapsed lung.

Tyler A. Schmidt was charged felony aggravated driving under the influence; felony reckless homicide; felony aggravated driving under the influence of drugs causing great bodily harm; felony aggravated reckless driving; lesser offenses of failing to reduce his speed to avoid a crash, speeding over the posted limit and failure to stop before reaching a school bus. (Photo provided by Kane County Sheriff’s Office)

The school bus was taking home students from Lily Lake Grade School. It was making its first drop-off when it was hit. Nobody on the bus was hurt.

A rear stop arm on the bus was out.

The vehicle was doing about 57 mph when it hit the bus. The speed limit is 50 mph.

Initially, Schmidt also was charged with aggravated driving under the influence of drugs. Prosecutors dropped that charge as part of his plea deal.

Attorneys for Schmidt argued previously that the results of post-crash drug tests should be thrown out because of problems with the laboratory that did the tests. The laboratory’s methods may have counted both the amount of Delta-8 THC and Delta-9 THC. The state’s intoxication law only addresses Delta-9 THC found in cannabis.

Deputies Wednesday testified they found cannabis in Schmidt’s car and cannabis residue in a grinder.

Schmidt could be sentenced to up to five years in prison on the reckless homicide count and up to three years on the reckless driving charge.

The hearing continues Thursday afternoon before Kane County Judge David Kliment.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250416/crime/its-all-my-fault-sentencing-begins-for-driver-in-crash-that-killed-2-of-his-friends/