Joliet woman awaits sentencing after guilty plea in 2016 DUI fatal crash case

Kathy Molitor

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled on Jan. 31 for a Joliet woman who has pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in a 2016 crash that led to the death of a 36-year-old man who was driving a motorcycle.

At 10:37 a.m. Thursday, Kathy Molitor, 64, of Joliet, was booked into the Will County jail after she pleaded guilty to aggravated driving while under the influence in a Sept. 18, 2016 crash that resulted in the death of Jaime Mendez, 36, of Plainfield.

Molitor was jailed after Judge Dave Carlson revoked her bond on the same day.

Molitor initially faced two charges of aggravated DUI and she pleaded guilty to one of those charges. Prosecutors dropped the other aggravated DUI charge against her.

The offense of aggravated DUI is a Class 2 felony that is punishable by 3 to 7years in prison.

Mendez was the driver of a motorcycle on Sept. 18, 2016, that was traveling north on Route 59 at Country Glen Court in Joliet when he was struck by another vehicle, according to a statement from the Will County Coroner’s Office.

Molitor was charged with driving under the influence of the Ford Explorer that struck Mendez.

Mendez was survived by his widow, Mayra Mendez, and his two children, who were 10 and 8 at the time of his death, according to court records.

According to Mayra Mendez’s Nov. 14, 2016, wrongful death lawsuit, she was a passenger on Jaime Mendez’s motorcycle and she was thrown from the motorcycle following the collision with Molitor’s vehicle.

Mayra Mendez’s lawsuit was filed against Molitor and Marion Schmalz, who was the title holder of the vehicle driven by Molitor.

All claims in the lawsuit case against Schmalz were dismissed when she died before the case concluded on April 29.

The lawsuit case was ultimately dismissed after both parties reached a $100,000 settlement in favor of Mayra Mendez.

About $1,155 of that money went to Mayra Mendez’s attorneys to cover their cost of prosecuting the case, court records show.

The criminal case against Molitor has lasted about 6 years and 3 months.

During that time, there were numerous pretrial hearings in the case, as well as 402 conferences, which are private conferences held between the judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys.

They discuss the facts of the case and the judge may make a recommended sentence at the end of the conference if a defendant pleads guilty. The conferences are governed by Illinois Supreme Court Rule 402.

The last 402 conference was held and concluded on Oct. 28, based on the court minutes in the case.