Jury deliberates fate of Orland Park man who killed pregnant woman, 3 sons in crash

JOLIET, Ill. - Jury deliberations will continue Wednesday in the trial of an Orland Park man charged with causing a deadly accident in Will County five years ago.

The crash killed a pregnant woman and her three children as she drove them to Bible camp.

The jury deliberated at the Will County courthouse until 7 p.m. Monday and started again Tuesday morning, trying to determine whether the crash was an accident or recklessness.

And now, the jury will continue deliberations Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

The jury gave Judge Daniel Rippy a note Tuesday providing an update, and it said the jury was at 11 guilty and one not guilty. The public normally doesn’t know these kinds of details during deliberations, but the judge says that was on the note he was handed.

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A witness testified that he saw 30-year-old Sean Woulfe run a stop sign at a high rate of speed, then strike the car carrying a pregnant Lindsay Schmidt of Beecher and her three young sons Owen, 6; Weston, 4; and Caleb, 1.

The crash happened in Washington Township on July 24, 2017.

Investigators said Woulfe was driving his 2002 Chevrolet S10 pickup truck more than 80 mph when he failed to stop at a stop sign and struck Schmidt's Subaru on the driver's side, causing the vehicle to roll over into a field.

The Subaru had been headed north on Yates, and northbound traffic had no stop sign.

Schmidt, 29, and Caleb were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Will County coroner’s and sheriff’s offices.

Schmidt’s other two sons were taken to St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond, Indiana, according to the sheriff’s office, then transferred to Comer’s Children Hospital.

Weston Schmidt died at Comer July 25, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Owen Schmidt died July 27.

Schmidt was also pregnant at the time of her death, according to the sheriff’s office.

Woulfe's attorney has said his client wasn't reckless, wasn't using his phone or driving drunk and that it was just an accident.

Woulfe faces up to five years in prison on reckless homicide charges for an accident prosecutors called totally avoidable.

On Tuesday afternoon, the defense motioned for a "mistrial" based on the fact that those 11 jurors will "beat up" on the one juror who still thinks Woulfe is "not guilty."

The judge dismissed that motion.