A new judge has been assigned to a felony DUI case a year after charges were filed against a former volleyball coach and dean in Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155.
An indictment filed in July 2025 alleges that Hilary Agnello, 44, of Crystal Lake, was above the legal alcohol limit and had two minors in her car when she was involved in a crash that caused “great bodily harm” at about 9:15 p.m. May 9, 2025, at the intersection of Route 31 and Three Oaks Road.
Agnello faces eight felony counts of aggravated DUI, including aggravated DUI causing bodily harm and with child passengers, the indictment shows; she is also accused of felony child endangerment and a petty offense of carrying an open container of alcohol in the car.
She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A plea deal seemed to be close, as Agnello signed a plea discussion waiver May 21, court records show. Attorneys representing the state and Agnello met with Judge Mark Gerhardt, who then recused himself from the case. Gerhardt attributed his recusal in court documents to “outside knowledge” and “conflict due to third-party associate,” without elaborating.
The case is now assigned to Judge Tiffany Davis. Agnello’s next court date is June 17.
But Davis had previously been substituted for Gerhardt. According to court records, Davis was first assigned to the case before attorneys representing Agnello requested to substitute her for Gerhardt because they did not feel Agnello “will receive a fair trial in front of the court currently assigned to handle this matter.”
Since the initial charges were filed, Agnello now also faces another misdemeanor case stemming from a traffic stop in March, court records show. Prairie Grove cited Agnello with driving with a canceled, revoked or suspended license, a Class A misdemeanor, and driving with one headlight, a petty offense, according to the court records, which also show she pleaded not guilty in that case.
Agnello was first charged in May of last year with misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and driving under the influence of alcohol in connection to the crash. Those charges were dismissed and upgraded to the existing felony charges, according to court records.
Following the charged filed against Agnello, a District 155 spokesperson said last year that Agnello had “resigned as STEM division leader and head volleyball coach at Prairie Ridge H.S., effective after the 2024-2025 school year.” She was previously a dean at Crystal Lake South High School.
An attorney representing Agnello could not be reached for comment.