The boozed-up Illinois boater who decapitated a former Marine on Saturday cried that his “life was over” after the fatal collision, according to prosecutors.
Richard Stevenson, 45, was allegedly powering his 31-foot pontoon at speeds close to 80 mph when he hit a smaller boat in a no-wake zone on the Fox River, according to prosecutors and witnesses.
Stevenson’s vessel was then launched into the air, decapitating 49-year-old Magdalena Jablonska, before it landed in trees along the river’s shoreline, prosecutors said in court Tuesday, according to Fox 32.
Jablonska was a former Marine, according to a GoFundMe set up by her brother.
“Magdalena was always the sunshine wherever she went,” Marcin Jablonski wrote. “As a U.S. Marine, it was natural that Magdalena was always helping someone in need.”
He also identified a man injured in the crash as her fiancé.
Stevenson was seen weeping along the shore after the wreck, one witness who’d been on the boat with him told prosecutors.
The alleged drunken boater cried out that his “life was over,” according to the passenger.
Another witness who’d been with Stevenson told prosecutors that he had been drinking before he’d gotten behind the wheel of the boat.
Stevenson allegedly downed two shots of Fireball whiskey before drinking at a bar and restaurant. He then was accused of taking shots while driving the pontoon, according to the witness’ statement.
After the crash, Stevenson allegedly refused field sobriety testing, a breath test and initially refused a court-ordered blood draw.
He eventually relented after being taken to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital, where his blood alcohol concentration was about .20, well over the legal limit, according to prosecutors.
Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Miller said that Stevenson was a “ticking time bomb” at his hearing on Monday, requesting that he be held in detention until his trial began.
“This man was a ticking time-bomb and that bomb went off this past Saturday on the Fox River,” Miller said in court.
The damning statement came as prosecutors successfully argued for Stevenson’s detention ahead of trial, pointing to his history of reckless vehicle usage.
Stevenson accrued a whopping eleven driving offenses between 1997 and 2005 alone, prosecutors said.
The mad motorist racked up three drunk driving offenses, three reckless driving offenses, four speeding offenses and a fleeing and eluding police charge over the eight-year period, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Stevenson was said to have also received a misdemeanor for driving between 26 and 34 mph over the speed limit in 2023.
In addition to the decades-long rap sheet, Stevenson was also hit with reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence felony charges for Saturday’s brutal boating crash, records show.
He’s expected to appear in McHenry County court again on August 5.
Stevenson’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.