Driver Sentenced in 2013 DUI Crash that Killed His Friend

Downers Grove, IL - William Decero, 51 of Downers Grove, has been sentenced to one year of periodic imprisonment in DuPage County Jail after pleading guilty to aggravated DUI for a 2013 car crash that killed Thomas Fitzsimons of Hinsdale.

Decero was driving Sept. 22, 2013, with Fitzsimons, his friend, when he lost control of the car and crashed into a wooded area, according to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Fitzsimons was pronounced dead at the scene on Spring Road, south of 31st Street in Oak Brook. Decero was driving Fitzsimons’ car, and both were wearing seat belts. Decero was taken to a local hospital for his injuries.

A crash investigation showed Decero had a blood alcohol content of 0.139, according to the state’s attorney’s office. Decero pleaded guilty Aug. 14, 2015, to aggravated DUI, a class 2 felony.

Decero will begin serving his sentence right away. He will be allowed to leave the jail for work and counseling sessions, the state’s attorney’s office reports. He must serve four years of probation after his release.

“This is a tragic case in which there are no winners,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin in a statement. “Mr. Decero’s horrible decision to get behind the wheel after he had been drinking cost a life-long friend his life and devastated two families. Today’s sentence will never erase the pain that both of these families still feel to this day. ”