Seth Loyd
JACKSON CO., Ill.--The accused in a car-bicycle collision that resulted in the death of the cyclist has been settled in Jackson County Circuit Court except for the sentencing.
Seth Loyd, 23, of Carbondale, entered a plea to the most serious of his multitude of charges against him Tuesday in the death of Matthew Deirker, 33, on November 14, 2014. The crash occurred at East Walnut Street and South Bigler Road.
Dierker was taken from the scene to Memorial Hospital in Carbondale, then sent on to a hospital in St. Louis, but he died on Nov. 15.
Loyd was taken in on arresting charges of DUI after blowing a .207 on a BAC, as well as Reckless Homicide. Contributing to that charge was the discovery that Loyd was texting at the time of the crash; he was cited for this. He was also cited for Operating Uninsured and Expired Registration.
On Tuesday (August 18), at a regularly-scheduled pretrial conference, Loyd, who has been in custody at the Jackson County Jail since his arrest, opted to enter a plea to an amended count. The Aggravated DUI with Accident Causing Bodily Harm or Death was amended from a Class 4 felony to a more serious Class 2 felony. He actually pled guilty to two separate counts of those; in exchange, the two counts of Reckless Homicide were dismissed, as were the texting, operating uninsured and expired registration counts.
Nevertheless, Loyd could still spend between three and 14 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is set for October 5.