DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputies arrested John A. Yanni III, 25, of the 100 block of South 18th Street in St. Charles, at 11:20 p.m. Wednesday at Kishwaukee Hospital. Yanni was treated at the hospital for injuries from the crash. He was arrested on his release.

Yanni has been charged with reckless homicide and two counts of aggravated driving under the influence, according to court records. Police allege he was drunk at the time of the crash.

The reckless homicide charge and one of the aggravated DUI charges are related to the death of DeKalb High School senior Johnathon R. Ode, 18. The other aggravated DUI charge is related to the “great bodily harm or permanent disfigurement” of Evan M. Cortez, a 23-year-old Elgin man who was in the car with Ode at the time of the crash.

Yanni is a firefighter and medic with Fox River Countryside Fire Rescue District

JUDGE LETS DUI KILLER OUT ON LOW BOND
From Kane County Chronicle 

Yanni’s attorney, Liam Dixon, asked the judge to set a lower bond. Yanni, he said, was a lifelong resident of St. Charles and was employed as a firefighter and paramedic at Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue District. He also said his client had no criminal record. Nearly a dozen of Yanni’s family members and supporters attended the hearing. Dixon said that his client hadn’t been given pain medication for a broken knee since he was arrested at Kishwaukee Hospital at 11:20 p.m. Jan. 18.

Judge Montgomery set bond at $10,000, ordered Yanni not to drink alcohol and required that he be fitted with an alcohol-monitoring bracelet

Judge Montgomery set bond at $10,000, ordered Yanni not to drink alcohol and required that he be fitted with an alcohol-monitoring bracelet. The judge said he was aware of the age of the victim and the affect of the crime on the community. He said he was aware of “the emotional impact on not only the victim’s family, but also on the larger community.”

“These are not easy decisions for the court to come to,” Montgomery said.  MORE

OBITUARY of JOHNATHAN R. ODE

Johnathon R. Ode killed by DUI firefighter John Yanni III on 011717

Johnathon R. Ode, 18, of DeKalb, Illinois, died Tuesday, January 17, 2017, as the result of an auto accident.

Born September 23, 1998, in Sandwich, Illinois, he was the son of Stephen and Marsha Ode.

Johnathon was a senior at DeKalb High School where he was a member of the Gamers Guild and the Outdoor Adventure Club.

He is survived by his parents Stephen and Katie Ode; two brothers, Gerald Becker of Sandwich, Louis Ode of Dekalb; grandparents, Richard and Marlene Becker of Sandwich, Robert and Patricia Collins of Aurora; step-grandparents, Harlan and Jean Hawkins of Cortland; and his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Marsha in 2008.

The Memorial Service will be held at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, January 21, 2017 at Anderson Funeral Home in DeKalb, with Steve Saunders of Millbrook United Methodist Church officiating. Burial of cremated remains will be at a later date at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Aurora.

Visitation will be from 11:00 a.m. until the time of services, Saturday, at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Johnathon R. Ode Memorial Fund, addressed to the Ode Family in care of Anderson Funeral Home, P.O. Box 605, 2011 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, IL 60115.

For information, visit www.AndersonFuneralHomeLtd.com or call 815-756-1022.