Illinois boat crash kills woman, driver held without bond

A 45-year-old man is being held without bond after a high-speed boat crash on the Fox River in Illinois left a woman dead and her husband injured over the weekend. Richard Stevenson of Lisle faces charges of reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence following the collision on Saturday, July 25.

The McHenry County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 48-year-old Magdalena Jablonska of Des Plaines. An autopsy found she died from blunt force injuries to her head and body. Prosecutors stated during a detention hearing on Monday that Jablonska was decapitated in the crash and pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband, who was also aboard the 20-foot Crownline boat, was injured and hospitalized.

According to authorities, the crash occurred around 2:30 p.m. in a designated no-wake zone just south of the McHenry Dam. Prosecutors allege Stevenson was operating a 31-foot pontoon boat at approximately 80 miles per hour when it struck the rear of the smaller Crownline, riding over it. Stevenson was later found in trees near the shoreline where his pontoon came to rest. Two other people who had been on the pontoon left the scene before law enforcement arrived but were...