A 20-year-old Collinsville man has been charged in connection with the vehicle collision death of a 12-year-old girl, according to St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly.
Andrew M. Fraticelli, of 914 Edwards, was charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence and one count of reckless homicide. In a press release, the state’s attorney’s office stated Fraticelli is accused of being under the influence of a controlled substance Friday night at the time of the crash in Fairview Heights.
Fraticelli is being held by Fairview Heights police on $250,000 bail and is expected to be transferred to the St. Clair County Jail.
“”It breaks my heart,”” the press release quotes Kelly as saying. “”My thoughts and prayers are with her family.””
Based on witness statements and evidence found at the crash scene, police suspect Fraticelli was under the influence of heroin, Fairview Heights Detective James Mason said. Police are waiting for the result of toxicology tests on Fraticelli to determine which drugs he was under the influence of at the time of the crash.
Police said Fraticelli crossed the center line about 8:30 p.m. Friday in his Jeep Cherokee on Illinois 159 in Fairview Heights. They said he struck a Ford Taurus carrying 28-year-oldApryl Sherrod, of Shiloh, and her 12-year-old daughter, Amari Clark. Amari died early Saturday at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis.
Sherrod was treated and released from St. Louis University Hospital.
Fraticelli was arrested Sunday after being treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis for lacerations to his face and arms and a head injury, Mason said.
Fairview Heights police are awaiting an Illinois State Police reconstruction report to determine, among other things, whether speed or road conditions factored in the crash, according to Mason. No one involved in the crash was wearing a seat belt, Mason said.
Walter Johnson, Amari’s great-uncle, said he had taken her to eat and play at Chuck E. Cheese’s just a week before the accident.
He said she was smart and respectful.
“”I didn’t have to never holler at her,”” he said. “”She was a true little princess, a little lady.””
He said the family is still planning memorial services.
She was her mother’s only child and her father’s oldest. Johnson said they had her when they were young, but, “”Both of them, they were some excellent parents.””
