A Wellsville, Missouri, man has been sentenced to a decade in prison after his involvement that killed two women on Interstate 72 in Pike County last year.
68-year old Steven M. Harrison entered a negotiated plea of guilty yesterday to two counts of reckless homicide and one count of reckless driving. A charge of driving the wrong way on a one-way roadway was dismissed per the plea.
43-year old Amanda E. Harrison of Laddonia, Missouri, and 59-year-old Angela J. Wood from Payson were pronounced deceased at the scene after a 3-vehicle crash on I-72 west of McCraney Creek on the evening of October 8th. Both women were passengers in separate vehicles.
ISP reports indicate that Steven Harrison was the driver of a 2008 Blue Chrysler Town and Country LX that was traveling eastbound on Interstate 72. A 2019 White Ford Transit T-150 driven by 49-year old John J. Wagler of Bloomfield, Iowa was westbound in the left lane and a 2023 Gray Chevrolet Malibu driven by 65-year old James D. Wood of Payson was behind Wagner’s vehicle.
The front driver side of Harrison’s vehicle struck the front driver side of Wagler’s vehicle, which went off the left side of the road and struck a guard rail. Harrison’s vehicle then traveled into the path of Wood’s vehicle and struck it head on.
Steven Harrison was airlifted to a regional hospital with injuries. James wood was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with injuries. Wagler was uninjured, as were four females in the vehicle — juveniles ages 12, 15 and 17, and 43-year old Dorothy R. Wagler of Bloomfield, Iowa.
Steven Harrison was officially charged in Pike County on April 11th.
Harrison was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, up to 1 year of mandatory supervised release, ordered to pay $5,000 in fines, fees, and assessments as well as nearly $400,000 in restitution for medical bills and funeral costs of the crash victims. Harrison was given an additional 360 days in jail on the reckless driving charge. According to Illinois Truth in Sentencing laws, Harrison must serve at least half of the sentence.