On December 11, 2023, Travis Williams was sentenced to 12 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for being under the influence of alcohol, causing a wrong-way crash on Interstate 74 and killing Kenneth Yeater, 35 of Mackinaw.
Illinois State Police said Williams, 41 of Peoria, was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes near mile marker 52 at approximately 4:24 a.m. on October 17, 2021 when his 2011 Cadillac STS struck head-on a 2009 Toyota Corolla traveling carrying Mr. Yeater.
Mr. Yeater was pronounced dead at the scene. Williams was transported to an area hospital with serious injuries. He ultimately plead guilty to Aggravated DUI.
At the sentencing hearing, the court heard evidence that Williams had a prior DUI and was on federal parole at the time of the car collision. After Williams’s elocution to the court in which he apologized to Yeater’s widow and family, Circuit Judge Andrew Doyle imposed the sentence.
Aggravated DUI carries a sentence range of 3 to 14 years in prison. Williams is required to serve 85% of the sentence.
***Courtesy of Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin***
