On July 21, 2014 at 2:15 p.m. Espinal-Quiroz was heading northbound in his red Freightliner with his cruise control set at 65 mph. He fell asleep at the wheel and plowed into several slow-moving vehicles in a construction zone. He had started driving at approximately 1:30 AM, but his logbook showed that he had started at 6:15 AM.
According to the Joliet Herald News, “The truck struck a 2012 Kia Soul that contained Timothy Osburn, 64, of Urbana; his wife, Kimberly K. Britton, 43; and their daughter, Piper Britton, 11. It also hit a 2008 Dodge Avenger occupied by Vicky L. Palacios, 54, of Coal City; and a 2000 Chevrolet Astrovan in which Ulrike Blopleh, 48, of Channahon, was riding with three of her children.”
The Chicago Tribune reports that “Kimberly and Piper Britton were killed immediately, and Osburn died 16 days later in a Chicago hospital. Two other women, Ulrike Blopleh, 48, of Channahon, and Vicky Palacios, 54, of Coal City, Ill., also were killed when their vehicles were struck by Espinal-Quiroz’s truck. Blopleh was traveling with three of her children, who also were injured in the crash…”
Espinal-Quiroz, from Honduras, was blind in one eye since 1984 and was a truck driver with a vision waiver since 1991. He became a naturalized citizen 2008. He is married with two children.
Under Indiana sentencing laws and credit for time served, he could serve as little as 2 1/2 years of actual jail time.
Joshua Johnke, the son of one of the victims, said, “He didn’t wake up wanting to kill five people. We understand that now and no matter what the judge would impose, our mothers, daughters, sisters and father are still gone.”