From Kendall Presley's Facebook page, which shows a lot of this kind of activity for someone so young...which might ultimately prove to be the problem.
FRANKLIN CO., Ill. - A low bond and felonies that can be easily pled to misdemeanors highlight charges against a Franklin County woman in connection with an accident on Labor Day of this year.
Kendall Presley, 22, of West Frankfort, was formally charged Tuesday (December 6) in a very low-key, largely-unnoticed matter in Franklin County Circuit Court in the hit-and-run case dating back to the afternoon of September 5.
At that time, it's alleged that Presley hit a West Frankfort man, Christopher McCabe, seriously injuring him and knocking him unconscious as he was weedeating a ditch near his home. She is alleged to have left the scene, continuing south, then turning around to go back to the area and "see what she hit." She was reportedly stopped in Johnston City, however, which is where the problems began: She was taken into custody by lawmen, who reportedly were able to affect a blood draw on her at some point, but she was let go.
Now three months later, evidently the results came back and supported the charges she's now facing: Two Class 4 felony Aggravated DUI Causing an Accident involving bodily harm, and one Class 4 felony Accident Causing Injury or Death.
All three of those are the mildest felonies a person could face...and all have some equivalent in the traffic code, meaning Presley could conceivably plead to a DT (DUI-Traffic, literally a traffic citation) and a Leaving the Scene of an Accident, and she'll be good to go with nary a stain on her record.
Many in Franklin believe this is just what's going to happen, as the perky little blond is the offspring of powers-that-be in Franklin County (one of her forbears was a mayor of West Frankfort, reportedly) and so the other powers-that-be won't do much to rock the boat.
In fact, likely because authorities were dragging their heels on the matter, the McCabe family opted to file a civil suit against Presley in late September, which we covered here.
Online court documents don't show that there's been a setting made in that case since it's been filed. However, it's civil, which means little but a money demand in court parlance.
In the felonies case, however, Presley's set for a court appearance January 10. She's already out of custody, too...her bail was set at a reasonable $30,000 ($3,000 cash, which she posted on December 8).