A father from Zion is facing multiple charges for a crash that killed his 5-year-old son and critically injured his 2-year-old son in Beach Park last year.
Steven McKnight, Jr., a 25-year-old from Zion, was driving recklessly and under the influence of cannabis with his two toddler sons in the car at the time of the crash, authorities said.
Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office charged McKnight, Jr. with the following:
- Two counts of aggravated DUI causing death
- One count of reckless homicide
- One count of endangering the life of a child causing death
- Four counts of aggravated DUI
McKnight, Jr. was arrested at his home on July 24 by sheriff’s deputies and sheriff’s SWAT, the sheriff’s office said.
The crash occurred around 5 p.m. on November 26, 2024 on Green Bay Road near Hart Street in Beach Park, the sheriff’s office said. Witnesses told authorities that McKnight, Jr. was illegally passing vehicles going southbound on Green Bay Road by driving in the northbound lanes when the crash occurred.
McKnight, Jr. crashed head-on with a 57-year-old woman who was driving northbound, authorities said.
The woman sustained serious injuries, authorities said. Both kids in the car with McKnight, Jr. sustained “horrific injuries” and 5-year-old Sy’mere was killed in the crash.
Neither of the kids were wearing seat belts or “in any sort of restraining device” when the crash occurred, and McKnight, Jr.’s 2-year-old son was seated on his lap, authorities said.
McKnight, Jr. was extricated from his vehicle with serious injuries and transported to a local hospital, authorities said. The 2-year-old was also transported to a local hospital with critical injuries.
McKnight, Jr. told deputies at the scene that no one else was in the vehicle, despite his 5-year-old having been in the backseat, authorities said.
Deputies “later discovered” a critically injured 5-year-old boy “beneath debris behind the driver’s seat,” the sheriff’s office said. The boy was rushed to a local hospital, where he was later declared dead.
“This crash was not an accident, it was the result of reckless, impaired driving that took the life of an innocent two-year-old child, severely injured another child, and seriously injured an uninvolved motorist who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is absolutely no excuse for putting children, or anyone, at risk. Our hearts are with Sy’mere’s family as they continue to grieve an unimaginable loss,” Sheriff John D. Idleburg said.
McKnight, Jr. is currently detained in Lake County Jail awaiting his next appearance in court on August 7, the sheriff’s office said.
