ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man pleaded guilty Wednesday for his role in a deadly drunk driving crash in the City of St. Louis four years ago.
According to a press release from the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri, Jessie Williams, 48, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and the DWI death of another in a crash that happened on May 4, 2019.
The crash happened when Bert Rhodes was turning left from North Broadway onto Chambers Street in the city’s Old North St. Louis neighborhood when his vehicle was struck by Williams, according to the release. Police said Williams was driving more than 75 mph before colliding with Rhodes’ vehicle and that Williams had a drug/alcohol limit beyond the legal state threshold of .08%.
A passenger in Rhodes’ vehicle was also injured.
Williams accepted a plea deal that included a five-year prison sentence, which St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason approved. Williams’ sentencing date is set for July 20.
According to the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, there were more than 1,000 deaths involving a substance-impaired driver in the last five years.
In 2021 alone, there were more than 200 deaths involving a substance-impaired driver. There was a drastic difference between the number of men compared to women who died as a result of impaired driving.
More than 150 men were killed by driving impaired while less than 40 women died as a result.
Alcohol-related fatalities slightly decreased in 2021, but drug-related fatalities have steadily increased over the last 10 years.
“For the past decades, significant strides have been made in addressing drunk driving through a combination of public messaging, tougher laws, and increased enforcement,” according to the coalition.
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