On Thursday, Jerni Warner, 19, Kewanee, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The negotiated plea comes after an almost two-year court case that began in October of 2021. After a series of defense motions and rulings by the Court, the case came to a close on Thursday. The fully negotiated plea includes two years of mandatory supervision upon release and a $15,000 fine.
Warner was 17 when she was charged as an adult with two felony counts of Aggravated DUI in the deaths of Garry and Leah Kelly of Moline. The fatal crash occurred just outside of Kewanee on Sept. 5, 2021.
The couple was driving home on Garry’s motorcycle after spending some time in Kewanee when a vehicle operated by Warner crossed over the center line and struck them. The couple were pronounced dead at the scene. The Kellys were both just 42-years-old, and in June of that year, they had finished up a bucket list item of taking their motorcycle to every state in the lower continental U.S., as well as Mexico and Canada.
In reaching the decision about what to charge Warner, Henry County State’s Attorney Catherine Runty, at the time, said she discussed the matter with the Kelly family.
“Let me say this, I did, in considering the charges available, speak with Garry Kelly’s family and they were fully supportive of the aggravated DUI – causing two deaths,” Runty said.
After Warner failed to show for a Sept. 27, 2021 court appearance, a warrant was issued for her arrest. An arrangement was made for her to turn herself in and she pleaded not-guilty to the two counts of Aggravated DUI at an arraignment at the Henry County Courthouse on October 14. Warner was confined to the Mary Davis Detention Home in Galesburg and held on a $1 million bond.
Henry County Circuit Court Judge James Cosby presided over the preliminary hearing held Nov. 1, 2021, and the State’s Attorney called two Henry County Deputies as witnesses.
Deputy Adam Sovanski testified about his response to the traffic accident on Hwy 78 near Kewanee. Already on the scene were officers and first responders from the Kewanee Police and Fire departments. Three vehicles, Sovanski said, were involved in the accident- a white Chevy Malibu, operated by Warner, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle-operated by Kelly and a black SUV.
Sovanski testified that he spoke with the driver of the Malibu on the scene only briefly before she was transported to the hospital. It wasn’t until he was at the hospital that he was able to identify the driver as Jerni Warner. The deputy also confirmed that there were no other occupants in the Malibu.
At the hospital, Sovanski testified that he was able to get a statement from the driver of the black SUV, Jonathan Hawk. Hawk told him that he was driving his SUV northbound when the Malibu crossed the centerline and hit a motorcycle. Sovanski said Hawk told him that he either swerved or was struck and his vehicle ended up overturned in a ditch.
The deputy told the court that he learned the identities of the two occupants of the motorcycle, Garry and Leah Kelly, when the Henry County Coroner gave him their driver’s licenses. The Moline couple were already deceased when he arrived on the scene, Sovanski testified. Sovanski also testified as to the findings of the coroner’s report that put the cause of death for the couple as blunt force trauma from the traffic accident.
In addition, Sovanski spoke with a doctor about Warner’s need for treatment and learned that the doctor had ordered blood and urine tests, which subsequently came back indicating that there was both alcohol and cocaine in her system, he said.
Sovanski told the court that he issued Warner two citations for improper lane usage and violating the open container law. At the scene of the accident, Sovanski said he viewed open cans of alcohol inside her vehicle.
Henry County Deputy Chad Winter testified on his accident reconstruction report. Winter told the court that his findings were that unit one, the Malibu, crossed the centerline into the northbound lane, striking unit two, a motorcycle, before striking unit three, a black SUV.
Winter also told the court that when the Malibu struck the motorcycle, “it created fairly large gouges in the roadway,” and that the Malibu had crossed over into a significant portion of the other lane.
In November of 2021, two motions, filed by Warner’s attorney William Gullberg, requesting a bond review and furloughs for medical appointments were denied by Judge Cosby.
Warner’s parents testified at the hearing. Joe Warner called his daughter a “good girl” who had no ability to flee and lived up to her responsibilities.
Teri Warner, Jerni Warner’s mother, under questioning from Gullberg, said that her daughter would not flee from the proceedings.
“She will own up to the responsibilities of her actions and she will not flee,” said Warner’s mother. “She has nowhere to flee to.”
Her mother also testified as to the reason Warner failed to show for her September court appearance. Warner’s mother told the court that she rode in the ambulance with her daughter to the hospital on Sept. 5, the day of the accident and that the day after Labor Day, she and her husband took Jerni to Gateway in Springfield for treatment. Warner said the facility recommended that her daughter stay in treatment for three months.
The Court denied the bond reduction, as well as Gullberg’s request to consider home confinement, unannounced visits from law enforcement and mandatory drug testing.
In February of 2022, Warner turned 18, and her defense attorney filed a motion asking the Court to continue Warner’s pre-trial detention at the Mary Davis Detention Home. Warner was now legally an adult, and the State sought her transfer to the Henry County Jail.
The Defense argued that the Illinois statute governing juvenile’s arrest and custody called for Warner to be kept isolated from an adult population should she be transferred to the jail.
“She’s in a safe place with people generally of her age,” Gullberg told the court, adding it would be inappropriate to transfer her to an adult facility.
But the State’s Attorney disagreed, and provided instances where other juveniles under 21 had been confined at the jail.
Judge Cosby, citing the exception to detention and reiterating that while the court had the discretion to transfer her to the jail or leave in the detention home, the jail didn’t have the ability to isolate her from the adult population. Cosby ruled that Warner would stay confined to the MDH while the case was pending.
On two other motions before the court at the time, Cosby ruled against the Defense’s motion to exclude seven photographs from the accident scene as well as a motion to limit or exclude the testimony of the accident reconstruction of Deputy Winter.
On July 7, 2022, Attorney Kevin Sullivan filed an appearance, officially notifying the court that he would be taking over Warner’s defense. Sullivan is a Peoria-based attorney whose practice areas are listed as criminal defense, DUI and drug violations.
In August of 2022, Judge Cosby signed an order transferring Warner into the custody of Henry County after Sullivan requested the transfer. Sullivan cited Warner’s health issues and the difficulty at acquiring transportation to medical appointments at the detention home as the reasons for the motion.
Warner appeared in court with her attorney, Sullivan, on Feb. 24, 2023. The Defense requested an Illinois Supreme Court Rule 402 Conference. The conference, a discussion by all parties and an attempt to open plea negotiations, was held in the Judge’s Chamber, off the record.
A plea hearing was set for May of 2023 and Warner was expected to take an open plea, but Judge Colby Hathaway announced that a fully-negotiated plea deal had been reached between the parties and the date for that plea was set for Thursday, July 6. In May, the Judge also denied a motion for a furlough that would have allowed Warner to attend her grandmother’s funeral.
** This is a developing story, and the article will be updated with more information about the July 6 plea.
