Two wreck victims are stable

By J. D. Piland

Three days after a fatal car wreck south of Waterman, two of the five passengers remain in stable condition at Rockford Memorial Hospital, a spokeswomen said.

Stacy Winslow, 15, of Maple Park, and Laura Cerny, 16, of Batavia, were flown to Rockford Memorial for treatment after the vehicle struck a utility pole. No other information was available about the status of the teen-agers.

The only life claimed in the wreck was the driver, 15-year-old Brandy Hudkins, of Portage, Mich., who was visiting friends.

According to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, Hudkins was driving the car on Preserve Road, east of Leland Road.

DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott said Hudkins was driving on the gravel road, lost control and struck a utility pole.

“She was just driving too fast and had a lack of driving experience,” Scott said.

She was pronounced dead at 9:17 p.m., just about an hour after the accident.

Also in the car at the time of the wreck were Byron Kight, 16, of Batavia, and Tara Egan, 14, of Ottawa. Both were injured and taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital.

Kight was treated and released, but Egan remained at KCH for additional treatment. As of Monday, Egan was not listed as a patient at KCH.

Kight, whose parents owned the car, a 1995 Nissan Altima, was arrested and charged with permitting an unauthorized person to drive, a petty offense.

Hudkins’ death makes the seventh traffic-related fatality this year in DeKalb County.