Inset (top): Mason Hada (Facebook). Inset (bottom): Deahri Steele (Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office). Background: News footage of the crash that killed Mason Hada (WTVO).
An Illinois man who fled after a drunken-driving crash killed a teenager has been sentenced to several years in prison.
Deahri Steele, 23, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and aggravated DUI, five years after killing 16-year-old Mason Hada in the 2021 crash. According to local CW affiliate WRNF, Steele was driving a black sedan on Aug. 26, 2021, and reached speeds of up to 96 mph. Police said he was also under the influence of alcohol.
Local ABC affiliate WTVO reported that Mason was driving home from football practice and speaking with his father by phone just seconds before Steele’s car struck him.
On Thursday, Steele received a 10-year sentence for reckless homicide and a five-year, six-month sentence for aggravated DUI resulting in death. The sentences will run concurrently. He was also given credit for the four years he spent in the Winnebago County Jail.
The post Teen football player was talking to his father when a drunk driver traveling 60 mph over the speed limit killed him first appeared on Law & Crime.
