Married Couple Killed By Wrongway I-55 Driver, Wilmington Defendant Needs Psychological Evaluation: Bretz
WILMINGTON, IL— Michael Trinka, the now-35-year-old Wilmington criminal defendant accused of killing a husband and wife during a wrong-way, head-on crash along Interstate 55, will be returning to the Will County Courthouse on Wednesday morning with his new criminal defense Chuck Bretz in hopes of getting a psychological/neuropsy evaluation performed at the Will County Jail.
In July 2023, Joliet Patch reported the Illinois State Police arrest of Trinka in connection with the June 27, 2023, traffic fatalities of husband and wife Ron and Kelly Dube along the southbound stretch of Interstate 55 near Wilmington. According to the Illinois State Police recap, at 10:36 p.m. state troopers learned of a double fatality on the southbound part of I-55 in Will County. Trinka was driving a black F-150, and he was going northbound in the southbound lanes of 55.
The Dubes, on the other hand, were traveling with their young children in a GMC Yukon, going southbound on I-55, and that's when Trinka's truck hit them head-on. The Dubes' GMC Yukon was then hit by a semi-trailer, police said. The Dubes were pronounced dead at the crash site.
The couple's three children were taken to an area hospital and survived the crash. Trinka, on the night of the crash, was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Trinka's previous lawyers, Mike Leonard and Matt Chivari of The Leonard Law Group in Chicago, tried unsuccessfully in 2024 to get their client out of the Will County Jail under the SAFE-T-Act, which was not in existence at the time of Trinka's arrest.
However, Will County Judge Carmen Goodman ruled against Trinka and her ruling was upheld in a split decision by an Illinois appeals court.
According to court files, Trinka had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.266, which is more than three times the legal limit to be considered drunk.
Prosecutors also provided an extraction from Trinka's cell phone and stated, "From that night, the defendant was texting friends that he wanted to kill himself. He texted friends that he wanted to die; that he was going to end it that night; and that he wanted to go out with a bang."
In 2023, the Illinois State Police revealed that Trinka, who comes from the 100 block of Tully Road, was being held in the Will County Jail on a $3 million bail, and he faces a dozen felony charges of aggravated driving under the influence from the Will County State's Attorney's Office.
Trinka is a convicted DUI offender.
In 2018, Trinka pleaded guilty at the Will County Courthouse in connection with a 2017 DUI arrest. For that crime, he received 12 months supervision and was ordered to complete alcoholism treatment, plus 100 hours of community service. His driver's license was returned to him in March 2018, court records show.
For nearly two years, Trinka was represented by Chicago's Leonard Law Group, however, the law firm parted ways with Trinka this past spring, notifying Will County's judges of irreconcilable differences with Trinka in regard to his case.
Last week, Trinka's newest attorney, Chuck Bretz, filed a motion asking that Trinka undergo a psychological evaluation at the Will County Jail. Bretz wants his client to undergo a series of contact visits with Dr. Michael Gelbort, informing the court that Trinka "was suffering from various mental health issues for a time prior to the offense and wishes to have Dr. Michael Gelbort perform a psychological/neuropsychological evaluation to include testing for any mental health issue and or psychological/neuropsychological disorder or diagnosis which would impact his decision making and behavior and or his propensity for poor decision making and or certain behavior."
According to his motion, Bretz wants to let Dr. Gelbort bring in a laptop computer or iPad along with paper, pencils and pens, a stopwatch, watch, cardboard plastic blocks and notebooks with binder rings in order to conduct the evaluation and "that the defendant have freedom of movement of his arms during the evaluation."
Bretz's motion will be taken up on Wednesday in Courtroom 503 of the Will County Courthouse.
Back in 2023, Joliet Patch also reported that Trinka faced a wrongful death lawsuit filed by
"How does this ever happen?" Cservenyak remarked after filing the lawsuit. "How does he get on the wrong ramp and keep going? That's really the shocker. It's scary."
According to their obituaries posted by the Fred C. Dames Funeral Homes, Kelly Dube was born in Joliet and raised in Channahon.
"She was a graduate of nearby Minooka High School where she perhaps gravitated to classes such as health and shop. Her shop teacher commented that Kelly was one of the best students he taught. From a very young age, Kelly aspired to be a doting mother, homemaker and supportive wife. And she succeeded," her obituary noted.
Born in California, Ron Dube was raised in Romeoville and graduated from Romeoville High School and continued his education by receiving a bachelor's degree. "He enjoyed football, bowling, and camping. Ron aspired to work hard, provide and support. And he succeeded,"
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