A Crest Hill man has been paroled after spending six months in prison and already receiving credit for 14 months in jail for the 2024 reckless homicide of a Joliet couple.

Jacoby Hamilton, 22, was paroled from prison on Feb. 19, according to the website for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

On July 15, 2025, Hamilton was sentenced to serve four years in prison after he agreed to plead guilty to the reckless homicide of Walter “Buddy” Kretzler, 65, and his wife, Roxane Holt, 59, both of Joliet.

But Hamilton was only required to serve 50% of the four-year sentence. He was also credited with serving about 14 months in jail while the reckless homicide case was pending.

In Illinois, reckless homicide is a class 3 felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison. Prosecutors contended Hamilton was eligible for an extended term of up to 10 years.

Hamilton was not transferred from jail to prison until about 24 days after his sentencing hearing last year.

Since Hamilton’s 2024 arrest in the reckless homicide case, he has served about a year and nine months in jail and prison over the crash that claimed the lives of the Joliet couple.

In 2024, Kretzler and Holt died in a crash after Hamilton drove through a red light at 31 mph above the speed limit and without his headlights on at night, according to Will County prosecutors.

Hamilton and an “unknown male passenger” attempted to flee the scene of the crash but only the passenger managed to get away, according to Joliet police officials.

That passenger has never been apprehended, police said.

Last year, Hamilton’s plea and sentencing followed what’s known in Illinois as a 402 conference.

Those conferences involve private discussions of the case between the judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys. The goal of those conferences is to reach a resolution without trial.

During Hamilton’s sentencing hearing last year, Susie Kretzler-Falcone, the brother of Kretzler, had asked Will County Judge Art Smigielski for the maximum sentence.

Kretzler-Falcone had a copy of a petition with more than 600 signatures urging Smigielski to impose a sentence that “reflects the seriousness of this crime.”

She said Hamilton’s choices were “reckless, callous and fatal.” She said he may receive a “lenient sentence,” which she called a “second injustice” that would “compound the pain we already endure.”

Smigielski said he had sympathy for the family of Kretzler and Holt and he will not insult them by pretending he understands their loss. He said there is nothing he can do to bring back their loved ones and he must do what the law requires.

Smigielski said state law allows for probation for reckless homicide but he did not believe the minimum nor the maximum sentence would be just.

He said Hamilton has no prior criminal history, no juvenile record and he had only two traffic cases.

Cosmo Tedone, one of Hamilton’s attorneys, said his client participated in rehabilitation programs while in jail. He said his client is remorseful and he is taking responsibility for the incident.

Hamilton declined to say anything on his behalf during the sentencing hearing.