Man pleads guilty in McHenry crash that killed his mother, gets three years in prison – Shaw Local

A man who drove at high speeds in McHenry, ran a red light and crashed his car that killed his mother pleaded guilty Wednesday and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Emmet J. Zywiec, formerly of Round Lake and now of Wisconsin, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, a Class 3 felony. The penalty for a Class 3 felony ranges from probation to five years in prison.

According to the McHenry County court’s sentencing order, he must serve half of his sentence and then six months of supervised release. He will also receive credit for the 476 days he was incarcerated in the county jail. The remaining charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated reckless driving, as well as two counts of felony murder, were dismissed, court records show.

Shortly after 4 p.m. on June 17, 2021, Zywiec was driving a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria eastbound on Elm Street at Curran Road at 82 mph in a 45 mph zone; he disregarded a red light and entered the intersection, court records show. According to a McHenry Police Department news release at the time, the Ford collided with a 2012 Hyundai Veloster as it attempted to make a left turn to head south on Curran Road.

Zywiec’s mother, Gabrielle Zywiec, 52, of Wonder Lake, was a passenger in the car her son was driving. Firefighters extricated her from the Ford and she was flown by LifeNet McHenry to Advocate Condell Medical Center, where she later died, police said.

Two people traveling in the Hyundai were treated at Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening. There was no evidence that drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash, police and prosecutors said.

In 2019, Gabrielle Zywiec and her family received a home in Wonder Lake that was renovated by Habitat for Humanity of McHenry County. Her husband had died about seven years earlier, leaving Gabrielle Zywiec’s family in financial trouble that forced them to move frequently, the Northwest Herald previously reported. Gabrielle Zywiec hoped the house would bring stability to her life, she said at the time.