Sycamore woman charged with reckless homicide in February car accident, NIU student death

By David Thomas

A Sycamore woman has been charged in the car accident that led to the deaths of an NIU student and her boyfriend in February.

Patricia L. Schmidt, 46, was charged with two counts of reckless homicide and two counts of aggravated reckless driving, said Phil Montgomery, assistant state’s attorney of DeKalb County.

Montgomery said the evidence at the crash site indicated that Schmidt was “driving at an excess rate of speed and she drove through a red light.”

Although conditions were icy later that night, Montgomery said the weather was not a factor.

“Weather played no role in her actions that night,” Montgomery said.

On Feb. 21, Schmidt was driving a Ford pickup truck south bound on Route 23 near Plank Road at around 5:30 p.m. The pickup truck collided with a Pontiac going eastbound on Plank Road. Sycamore Police at the time said the Pontiac appeared to have the right of way when the accident occurred.

NIU student Alexis “Lexi” Weber, 21, was a passenger in the Pontiac, which was driven by her boyfriend, Timothy T. Getzelman, 21, of Sycamore.

Getzelman was pronounced dead at around 6:12 p.m. Weber was taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital, 1 Kish Hospital Drive, where she was later pronounced dead.

Both Getzelman and Weber died of blunt trauma to the head, neck and chest.

Weber was an NIU elementary education major and was on track to graduate in December 2011, said Brad Hoey, team leader of NIU’s Media Relations and Internal Communications.

The bond for Schmidt was set at $500,000. The DeKalb County Jail confirmed that Schmidt posted bond Wednesday. Her court date is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. today.