BY DAVE PARRO
The driver in the Oswego crash initially told police she wasn't behind the wheel when her car crashed into a telephone pole, ultimately killing five teenage passengers. She later changed her story, claiming she let the teens use her car and took over because she didn't like the way one of the kids was driving.
There's still a lot here we don't know, but this adds a new twist to the events of that tragic night. Vasquez claims the teens approached her for a ride home after a party. She told police she let them use her car, despite not knowing any of them, but that "James" was originally driving and she was a passenger. James McGee, who died more than a week after the accident, was only 14 years old.
It's possible that McGee was driving because he was sober. We don't know his blood-alcohol level at the time of the accident because he died in Cook County, which doesn't do inquests. Vasquez said she "didn't want to drive" but switched with McGee because she "didn't like the way James was driving." Maybe it's because he didn't know how.
Three of the four teens who died the day of the crash had been drinking. Jessica Nutoni, 15, tested negative. (We know this because their BAC levels were revealed at a Kendall County coroner's inquest.) We don't know if the four injured teens were drunk.
If McGee was driving because he was sober, then Vasquez knew she was in no shape to take eight kids home after a party at 2 a.m. At some point, she changed her mind.
The question remains, however, of why she would let eight kids she didn't know use her car. And why she would cram so many teenagers into her sedan. And why they were allowed to drink at a party in the first place.
As more details come out, the night of Feb. 11 will prove to be a series of one bad decision after another. Many of them will be confounding, but hopefully they will shed some light on how this happened and how another tragedy can be prevented.
Well according to a survivor, Arielle Rexford the driver was Ms Vasquez. She did not know her name but knew everyone elses and offered police a description of the driver, which according to police matched Sandra Vasquez!! Even if James McGee was driving at some point fact of the matter is Ms Vasquez, an adult, allowed him to. I believe she was driving at the time of accident and that she lied to save her own but once being questioned by police. She obviously knew she had been drinking and didn't not want to accept responsibility for the senseless stupidity she had commited!!
where were the ADULTS of there KIDS??? Leaving 14 year olds to drink? Those KIDS should not have even been out that night, does anyone question that?
Jane, You hit the nail right on the head. Why were those kids drinking and out at 2 a.m. in the first place? I just read here in the Beacon that the info leading up to the crash (ie, where the kids got booze) is sketchy so the police may not even pursue that angle. And what about these kids parents? Aren't they ultimately responsible for their kids' safety? And why didn't the kids have enough confidence in their parents to call them when stranded? Ms. Vasquez, perhaps, should have insisted these kids call their parents rather than agree to drive them, but if they wouldn't it seems her only other alternative would have been to leave them stranded. Each of those parents, while they certainly have suffered greatly, should be charged with child endangerment or abandonment, and should be facing trial along with the only "adult" who seemed to care about their kids at that time.
I've tried to read up on this tragedy, and maybe I missed these articles, but I've never read anything about who's house these kids were at? There's been no mention of that adult made that I've read. I hate to critize the parents, but the million dollar question is why were such young kids allowed out that late? Even a 17 year old has no business being out at 2am. Jane- I agree with you fully. I feel that most of the blame (and of course she is guilty in this situation) was placed on Vasquez- but the parents were part of the cause as well!
i love you kids who died that night i was not meant to be this way.