Orland Park Man Pleads Guilty To Reckless Homicide In Beecher Case

JOLIET, IL ? Four months after Sean Woulfe's reckless homicide trial at the Will County Courthouse ended in a mistrial after an 11-1 jury deadlock, Woulfe has taken responsibility for causing the July 2017 deaths of Lindsey Schmidt and her children.

On Thursday morning Woulfe, of Orland Park, pleaded guilty to five counts of reckless homicide. He was facing 16 counts. Woulfe's plea brings the Beecher tragedy to an end after five years. The fatal crash happened on July 24, 2017, a Monday morning, in rural Beecher.

Prosecutors at the Will County State's Attorney's Office told Joliet Patch it was their understanding that Woulfe will face a prison term ranging between two and 10 years for the reckless homicide convictions. All penalties will be served concurrently, which means at the same time.

Woulfe can be given a sentence of probation by Judge Dan Rippy, prosecutors noted.

Woulfe was on his way to work in Orland Park when he drove through a rural stop sign, crashing into the Schmidt family van.

Schmidt and her children were on their way to vacation Bible school at their church in nearby Crete when Woulfe ran a stop sign at 83 mph and struck their Subaru Outback with his Chevy pickup truck, prosecutors say.

Schmidt, who was several months pregnant, and her 1-year-old son, Kaleb, were pronounced dead at the scene. Weston, age 4, died the next evening at Comer Children's Hospital, where Owen, 6, died of his injuries two days later.

A little more than a week after the crash, a stop sign violation citation against Woulfe was dismissed. Weeks later, he was charged with 16 counts of reckless homicide. Woulfe, now 30, has been free since a Will County judge lowered his bond from $1 million to $250,000 in late August 2017.

Members of the Schmidt family notified Joliet Patch that Woulfe was taken into custody following Thursday's plea agreement in Courtroom 402 of Judge Rippy.

Will County Jail logs show that Woulfe, now 30, was booked into the Will County Jail on Thursday at 10:08 a.m. Thursday marked the first time in nearly five years that Woulfe has been in custody.

Patch Editor John Ferak contributed to this report.