Joliet woman sentenced in fatal DUI crash

JOLIET - A Joliet woman was sentenced this month to spend six years in prison for a fatal DUI crash last year.

Jamie Walsh, 31, pleaded guilty Dec. 7 before Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak on a charge of aggravated driving under the influence in exchange for having four other counts dismissed.

At 7:21 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2015, Walsh was driving a 1997 Plymouth Neon on Route 171 in Lockport Township when the vehicle was involved in a rollover crash at Nobes Avenue. Walsh was not injured, but her passenger, Joseph O. Essary, 33, was ejected and pinned beneath the vehicle, according to police reports.

Will County Assistant Public Defender Timothy Specht said Walsh and Essary had been a couple for over a decade and were on their way home after they’d spent several hours drinking at a friend’s house.

If Walsh had been convicted on all charges filed after her arrest, she could have served up to 35 years in prison.