The criminal outcome of two people fatally hit by an out-of-control pickup truck was decided here Monday, among a smattering of traffic violations on the Randolph County Courthouse morning docket.
“It’s a petty offense,” Associate Judge Gene Gross first clarified with Beth Heaton, the assistant state’s attorney prosecuting the case that drew peaceful protest outside the building.
“That’s correct, your honor,” said Heaton.
Nicholas T. Cook, 36, was formally accused of improper traffic lane usage in the April 22, 2022, incident that killed Diane M. Gilmer, 31, and Dakota R. Morrison, 26, in nearby downtown Steeleville. They were on the back of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the middle of a warm day, waiting for traffic to pass when Cook’s truck came right at them, according to an Illinois State Police traffic crash reconstruction report.
In court, Heaton requested a maximum fine of $1,000 for the lane violation. Neither Cook nor a representative was there to argue on his behalf. Cook was one of the only defendants who failed to appear Monday morning. He couldn’t be reached for comment.
Before moving on to the next case, Gross clarified that, after fees, Cook faced a $1,226 fine for the matter. He said there would also be a mandatory revocation of Cook’s driver’s license, the conditions of which to be determined by the Illinois secretary of state.
Protesters — some holding signs that read “Randolph County You Failed Our Families” and “Justice for Diane and Dakota” — were upset with the outcome. They’d wanted a felony reckless homicide charge. Now Cook wasn’t being cited for speeding even though the crash reconstruction report concluded that it was a factor.
“When you get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, you are responsible for that motor vehicle,” Jason Leeper, 40, told the crowd of about 25 people after the hearing. “He killed two people. He thinks he’s going to get by with a slap on the hand. We are not going to put up with that.”
“Justice!” they yelled around him. “Justice!”
Sherry Bockhorn, 56, who saw Morrison grow up in Sparta, said, “He served our country. What are we doing for him?”
Family and friends said Morrison served in the Marines five years as a military policeman before coming back home to Southern Illinois. He was dating Gilmer, who was going through a divorce, and had three children — ages 13, 10, 7.
Leeper said Morrison and Gilmer worked at Chester Mental Health Center, a maximum-security state institution. Leeper, a security therapy aide there, said the couple were out on a motorcycle ride before the afternoon shift started.
According to the crash reconstruction report by Trooper Gerald H. Bemis, Morrison was driving a black 2013 Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide Custom with Gilmer on the back. The temperature outside was 84 degrees. Shortly before 1 p.m., they came to a stop at North James Street to wait for an opening onto West Broadway, the main two-lane road through Steeleville.
That’s when Cook, who’d just worked a 13 1/2 -hour shift at the Menard Correctional Center, approached from the east in a silver 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup. He veered into the oncoming lane of West Broadway, then onto the adjacent sidewalk.
A witness told police that Morrison saw the approaching pickup and accelerated forward in an attempt to get out of its path. But the truck “broad-sided” the motorcycle. When the truck came to rest, it left a wake of destruction behind — and other near misses. The motorcycle turned into a “big ball of fire,” the witness said. Passersby tried to pull two bodies to safety.
“What happened? What happened? Did I hit a motorcycle?” Cook asked another witness.
Morrison died at the scene, Gilmer at a nearby hospital.
Cook wasn’t injured. He told police that he was putting the lid on a soda bottle prior to losing control. Blood and urine toxicology analysis came back negative for “volatiles and drugs.” Morrison’s toxicology tested positive for THC. Neither he nor Gilmer were wearing helmets.
Bemis concluded that the primary cause of the collision was improper lane usage and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. He determined Cook was driving about 42 mph in a 25 mph zone.
On Monday, Randolph County State’s Attorney James Kelley said in an interview that adding a speeding violation “wouldn’t have gained anything in the criminal prosecution in this situation. It would have just resulted in another $25 fine.”
He said he’s aware that some wanted a more serious felony charge but that Bemis, who authored the crash reconstruction report, didn’t think Cook’s actions rose to that level.
“I, as a prosecutor, have an ethical obligation not to bring a case I cannot prevail on,” Kelley said. “There is no way I would be successful without that testimony from my own witness. That’s the heart and soul of the matter.”
Gilmer’s mother, Carrie Flynn, 52, came in from California to attend the protest outside the courthouse. She said the fight now is with the Illinois Legislature. She said she’s trying to get reckless homicide widened to include more classes of distracted drivers.
“Right now, it’s extremely specific and not beneficial to society as a whole,” she said.
Flynn described a wrongful-death settlement for her daughter’s estate as “very little, very sad, very pathetic.” Randolph County probate court records from late 2022 say State Farm Insurance shall pay Gilmer’s estate $100,000, including $25,000 for attorneys and $25,000 for each of her children. No settlement was on file in Morrison’s case.
J.R. Morrison, Dakota’s father, said his son learned to ride motorcycles at a very young age. He said distracted drivers continue to kill innocent people with near impunity in Southern Illinois.
“Until there is accountability, it’s not going to stop,” he said.
He came to the protest after working the overnight shift at a factory in nearby Sparta.
“Sadly, it’s a little too late,” he said. “Maybe it will help the next Dakota and Diane.”
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