January 19, 2011 (SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) --
The Illinois Court of Claims has awarded $8 million to the parents of two sisters who died in a fiery wreck caused by a state trooper who was driving 126 mph while e-mailing and talking on his phone. Matt Mitchell pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the 2007 crash that killed 18-year-old Jessica Uhl and 13-year-old Kelli Uhl. The crash on Interstate 64 near Fairview Heights also injured two people in another vehicle.
The court awarded the $8 million in an opinion dated Tuesday.