Accused DUI Driver Pleads Guilty in 2011 Crash That Killed One Passenger

Riverside, IL - A Cicero woman has pleaded guilty in a 2011 drunken driving rollover crash in Riverside that killed one person.

Magali Padilla, 28 of the 1400 block of S. 51st Avenue in Cicero, was sentenced to two years of felony probation, 12 days of time served, a victim impact panel and $2,489 in fines and court costs, according to Riverside police.

Padilla was arrested July 7, 2012 after a six-month investigation by the Riverside Police Department into a Dec. 7, 2011, crash.

People calling 911 reported the car hit a tree at 11:43 p.m. at Longcommon and Delaplaine before it rolled over several times and landed in a yard in the 200 block of North Delaplaine Road.

Both Padilla, 24 at the time, and Cesar Ramirez, a 26-year-old Woodridge resident, were ejected from the car, and Ramirez was pronounced dead by Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

Riverside police believed Pedilla was the driver, but she said Ramierez was the driver, police reported.

Investigators found a video of Padilla leaving the parking lot of a Berwyn restaurant and driving the car involved in the crash at 11:40 p.m., three minutes before the crash. Police also had evidence at the crash site that didn’t match with Padilla’s statement, police reported.

The Illinois State Police Accident Reconstruction Unit assisted Riverside police in the investigation.

After her 2012 arrest, Padilla was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol causing a death, police reported. She had no prior criminal history before this arrest.

Padilla pleaded guilty after a 4.5 year court battle, acknowledging she was behind the wheel at the time of the crash, police reported.

Ramierez had family members still living in the Woodridge area, but some of them moved to Mexico after the 2011 crash. Riverside police contacted family members to follow up on the conviction, and the Mexican Consulate in Chicago was also contacted to reach out to family members in Mexico.

Photo courtesy of Riverside police.