Lisle man charged with murder in Fox River boat crash that killed Magdalena Jablonska

A Lisle man who was already facing DUI charges in a fatal boat crash last month on the Fox River has been indicted for first-degree murder.

A McHenry County grand jury has indicted 45-year-old Richard M. Stevenson on one count of first-degree murder, one count of reckless homicide, three counts of aggravated DUI, and four counts of operating a watercraft under the influence. He pleaded not guilty to all charges at an arraignment hearing on Friday.

He originally was arrested on two counts of aggravated DUI and one count of reckless homicide before the grand jury indicted him on additional charges on Thursday.

Authorities have said Stevenson had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit when he crashed his triple-engine pontoon boat into another boat on the Fox River on July 25, killing 48-year-old Magdalena Jablonska. Prosecutors said Stevenson was going nearly 80 miles per hour in a no wake zone at the time of the crash.

Jablonska's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Stevenson last week.

Lawyers representing her family and her fiancé, Alan Telmini, said they filed the lawsuit to further investigate the circumstances that led to the fatal crash. They will look into whether Stevenson was overserved alcohol at a business before he drove the boat, and if the three engines powering the pontoon played a part in the crash.

They also want to know if anyone knowingly allowed Stevenson to operate the boat despite a history of dangerous conduct, whether anyone who owned or controlled the boat negligently entrusted it to an unsafe driver, and whether any additional parties may share responsibility for Jablonska's death.

Stevenson is in McHenry County Jail awaiting trial.