Wellsville, Mo., man gets 10 years in prison for involvement in October 2023 Pike County crash that killed two women

PIKE COUNTY, Ill. — A Wellsville, Mo., man was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections in prison after his involvement in an October 2023 crash that killed two women on Interstate 72 in Pike County.

Steven M. Harrison, 68, appeared with Public Defender Rick Zimmerman before Circuit Judge Frank McCartney in Pike County Circuit Court. He agreed to a negotiated plea of guilty to two counts of reckless homicide, a Class 2 felony, and one count of reckless driving, a Class A misdemeanor. 

Harrison received 10 years in prison for the two felonies. The sentences will be served concurrently. He received credit for 360 days served in the Pike County Jail.

Harrison also was ordered to pay $5,000 in fines, fees and assessments and nearly $400,000 in restitution for medical bills and funeral costs of the crash victims. He is eligible for 50 percent sentencing under Illinois’ truth in sentencing law.

A charge of driving the wrong way on a one-way road was dismissed as part of the plea.

Pike County 911 received a report of a multi-vehicle crash that occurred on I-72 westbound at milepost 12 at 9:39 p.m. Oct. 8, 2023. The caller indicated it was a head-on collision. 

The Pike County coroner was dispatched to the scene. Amanda E. Harrison, 43, of Laddonia, Mo., and Angela J. Wood, 59, from Payson were pronounced dead at the scene. The women were passengers in separate vehicles. 

Troop 6 with the Illinois State Police reported a 2008 Blue Chrysler Town and Country LX driven by Steven Harrison was eastbound on Interstate 72 at approximately 9:35 p.m. A 2019 White Ford Transit T-150 driven by John J. Wagler, 49, of Bloomfield, Iowa, was westbound in the left lane, and a 2023 Gray Chevrolet Malibu driven by James D. Wood, 65, of Payson was behind Wagler’s vehicle.

The front driver side of Harrison’s vehicle struck the front driver side of Wagler’s vehicle, which went off the left side of the road and struck a guard rail. Harrison’s vehicle then traveled into the path of Wood’s vehicle and struck it head-on.

Steven Harrison was airlifted to a regional hospital with injuries. James Wood was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with injuries. Wagler was uninjured, as were four females in the vehicle — juveniles ages 12, 15 and 17, and Dorothy R. Wagler, 43, of Bloomfield, Iowa.