PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A man who has methamphetamine in his body when he was behind the wheel of a car that crash, killing one, will go to prison for 13 years.
Christopher Clayton, 32, pleaded guilty on Thursday in Peoria County Circuit Court to one count of aggravated driving under the influence and received his 13-year sentence, which is one year shy of the 14-year maximum.
In return, an additional aggravated DUI count, alleging cocaine was in his body, was dropped. Also, an aggravated fleeing and eluding charge as well as unlawful restraint, which alleged he held Ashley Gase of Pekin against her will, were dropped.
Killed was Gase, who was in the Hyundai Elantra’s back seat when it collided with a pickup truck in South Peoria on Aug. 16, 2021. Three others went to the hospital.
Clayton must serve at least 85% of his sentence. The plea came about a week before he was to go to trial in Circuit Judge John Vespa’s courtroom.
He was indicted last fall — a year after the fatal accident — for allegedly having methamphetamine and cocaine in his body when the fatal accident happened.
Peoria police responded to the intersection Southwest Washington and Edmund Street just before 4:30 a.m. that day on a report of a two-vehicle crash.
Rescue workers used the “jaws of life” to cut open the sedan to remove Clayton and another man. Both were seriously injured. The pickup truck driver suffered minor injuries and was also taken to an area hospital, according to court records and police.
