Johnsburg High grad accused of DUI in double-fatal McHenry crash will remain behind bars

An 18-year-old man accused of being intoxicated during a crash that killed two other young people in McHenry was ordered Tuesday to be held in jail pending his trial on aggravated DUI charges.

Authorities said Jason K. Land, a Fox River Grove resident and Johnsburg High School graduate, had a serum alcohol content of .35 and was traveling at a high rate of speed when the crash occurred early Monday morning, killing a 18-year-old woman and 14-year-old boy, who were siblings. The blood-alcohol legal limit in Illinois for alcohol is .08.

The McHenry County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday identified the 18-year-old woman as Perla Tejeda but did not provide a name for the 14-year-old boy. He was identified in court records only by the initials A.H. Both were of McCullom Lake.

Preliminary findings from the autopsies, performed Tuesday, is that both died from blunt force injuries, according to information from the coroner’s office.

A parked car remained at the scene of a crash that killed two people shortly after midnight on July 28, 2025, at the intersection of Richmond and McCullom Lake roads in McHenry. Two people in one car were killed and a person in another car was seriously. Those vehicles collided with a parked car that was still at the scene several hours later. (Janelle Walker)

At Land’s initial court appearance in McHenry County Tuesday, Judge Cynthia Lamb, in deciding to detain him pretrial, said he ran a red light and crashed into the other vehicle as it was turning left. Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel Conroy said at the scene police said they smelled alcohol on Land’s breath and he was unable to say where he was coming from or going.

The boy was thrown from the vehicle and the woman had to be extricated. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, Conroy said.

Land’s license had been suspended in Ohio in April for having driven 15 mph over the limit, according to prosecutors.

Land, dressed in jail garb, dropped his head when the judge announced her ruling to detain him.

His attorney George Kililis, sought to allow Land to be free while awaiting trial, saying he would have family supervision. The attorney also said his father’s home is a Christian home where alcohol is not allowed and that Land would not drink and definitely not drink and drive.

Kililis said Land was “an excellent” student who graduated early from Johnsburg High because of his good grades. After that, he and a friend moved to Ohio to try to start a car detailing business. When it didn’t work out he moved back to Illinois. He had just visited a technical school in Wisconsin where he was in the process of applying. Kililis said the traffic matter in Ohio is Land’s only legal issue in his background.

Kililis said “we concede” the evidence points to Land’s culpability and called the crash “horrific and tragic.” But the defense attorney said the “real issue” is whether there are mitigating factors to keep Land and the public safe while allowing him to be free while he awaits trial.

The intersection where the crash happened – Richmond and McCullom Lake roads – was closed for several hours while the fatal crash was investigated Monday.

Note: The female victim’s name and age has been updated based on information from the McHenry County Coroner’s Office.