Driver gets eight-years for crash that killed Edgewood couple

EFFINGHAM â€" Nearly a year after an Edgewood couple was killed in car crash Christmas Eve, the person responsible for the accident was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison and ordered to pay more than $70,000 in restitution.

    Anita Jarmon pleaded guilty in Effingham County Circuit Court to one count of aggravated driving with an unlawful substance or compound, causing death, a Class 2 felony, punishable by six to 28 years in prison. Another similar count was dropped as part of the negotiated plea agreement.

    The charges stem from an accident in which Jarmon was southbound on Illinois 37 near Watson when she slid on the snow-covered highway into a vehicle driven by Allen Eugene White, killing his parents, passengers Allen Edward White Sr., 79, and Sandra White, 65.

    According to evidence presented by Effingham County State’s Attorney Ed Deters, Jarmon was driving from Chicago to Alabama to visit her father’s wife when she got off the interstate and became lost. She was trying to find her way back to the interstate when the accident occurred.

    Jarmon was injured and taken to St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital where she tested positive for cocaine. Two passengers in her vehicle also were injured and taken to the hospital.

    Deters said he discussed multiple times with the victims’ family the negotiated plea and described the agreement as a “painful and difficult process.”

    However, Deters conceded had the case gone to jury trial, the weather conditions that evening would have been considered.

    “It was a snowy evening. There was four to five inches of snow on the ground when the accident occurred,” he said.

    Deters added Jarmon had no prior DUIs or criminal driving history other than a couple of speeding tickets.

    Deters said the family has accepted the eight-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections as the start of justice in the case.

    Judge Kimberly Koester said with no good time credit Jarmon will be eligible to serve 85 percent of the sentence and upon release be ordered to two years of mandatory supervision. However, she noted Jarmon will be credited for time served from Feb. 6 to March 10 of this year.

    Jarmon also is ordered to pay $72,612 in restitution, as well as other fines and court costs and her bond of $1,497 will be applied to Allen Eugene White, who Deters said is permanently disabled due to the accident.

    Jarmon’s attorney, Public Defender Lupita Thompson, argued the ordered payments are uncollectible because Jarmon, who entered the courtroom with a walker, is 51 years old and unemployed.

    Because the plea had just been rendered, Koester declined to rule on the payments at this time, deferring it for a later date.

    Following sentencing, Jarmon apologized to the Whites’ teary-eyed family who were present for the hearing Wednesday.

    “I am truly sorry about the deaths in the family and sympathize with their loss,” she said.

    Cathy Thoele can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 126 or cathy.thoele@effinghamdailynews.com.