Wonder Lake woman sentenced to prison for fatal 2019 crash near Woodstock

A 47-year-old Wonder Lake woman was sentenced to four years in prison for aggravated driving under the influence in connection to a Woodstock crash in 2019 that killed her 44-year-old passenger, court records show.

Shannon Velmont was indicted by a grant jury on multiple counts of aggravated driving under the influence, both of alcohol and drugs; reckless homicide; and driving an uninsured vehicle following the Dec. 27, 2019 crash on Nelson Road in Woodstock that resulted in the death of her passenger, Al Irwin, according to an amended indictment.

During the 2019 crash, Velmont crashed her vehicle into a tree and was afterward taken to the hospital where testing determined a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.138 and the presence of numerous controlled substances in her system, including fentanyl and morphine, according to a news release Thursday from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The sentence handed down Wednesday by McHenry County Judge Robert Wilbrandt followed a negotiated guilty plea in March, court records show. As part of the plea deal, the other charges against Velmont were dismissed.

Under the state’s truth-in-sentencing rules, Velmont is required to serve at least 85% of the four-year sentence, according to the release.

The case was investigated by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Randi Freese, according to the release.