Crystal Steinheimer entered a guilty plea Friday afternoon in Monroe County Court to aggravated DUI, thus avoiding a jury trial set to begin Monday.

A charge of reckless homicide was dismissed. No other details of the plea agreement were released; she will be sentenced July 14, at 1 p.m., at the courthouse.

Steinheimer’s trial was set to begin next week, with jury selection slated for Monday in Monroe County Circuit Judge Dennis Doyle’s courtroom. Her charges of aggravated DUI and reckless homicide resulted from a Jan. 10, 2015, crash on Route 159 south of Hecker that claimed the lives of Red Bud women Abby Liefer, then 19, and her backseat passenger Hannah Porter, 20. Liefer’s front seat passenger, Grace Richards, sustained minor injuries. Liefer, Porter and Steinheimer were all airlifted from the crash scene.

Earlier this month, Steinheimer’s public defender, Arlie Traughber, filed a motion for a change of venue, claiming his client could not receive a fair trial in Monroe County due to coverage of the case in the Republic-Times and on the Facebook page “Our Angels: Abby & Hannah,” which is administered by Liefer’s family. Traughber specifically mentioned a Facebook post that detailed failed plea negotiations between prosecutors and Steinheimer’s defense, which was subsequently covered in the May 25 issue of the R-T.

Judge Doyle denied the change of venue motion.

According to Illinois State Police’s official crash investigation report, Steinheimer’s Chevrolet Aveo crossed the center line and hit head-on a Chevy Cobalt driven by Liefer, who along with front seat passenger Richards were wearing their seatbelts.  Steinheimer, who was 20 at the time and not wearing a seatbelt, had a blood alcohol content of .179 when she was airlifted to Saint Louis University Hospital for treatment. Despite containers of alcohol being found strewn about the scene, tests revealed neither Leifer nor her passengers had any alcohol or drugs in their systems at the time of the crash

Steinheimer has been on house arrest since November, when she was released from the Monroe County Jail after spending four months there following revocation of her recognizance bond for being pulled over for driving erratically; her driver’s license had been revoked as a condition of her bond.

In a separate matter, auto insurer Affirmative Insurance Company filed paperwork last year seeking a declaratory judgment from the court in Monroe County that it “has no duty or obligation to defend or indemnify” Steinheimer for any damages claimed as a result of the crash.

The insurance company said Steinheimer had a policy issued through her family on a 1998 Chevrolet Blazer, but the 2008 Chevy Aveo she was driving the night of the crash had not been added to the policy within 30 days of Steinheimer’s acquisition of the new vehicle, as is required, the filing states.

The families of Liefer and Porter have also filed wrongful death lawsuits in St. Clair County against Steinheimer, as well as the Evansville establishments that served her alcohol the night of the crash: KBB Growth LLC, d/b/a Water Street Bar & Grill; Just Sue’s and owner Susan Levery; and Michael J’s Saloon and owner Michael J. Stefani.

All three taverns are alleged to have “sold, served or gave alcoholic liquors to Crystal Steinheimer, who then drank the alcoholic liquor on the premises and became intoxicated.”

The Liefer family is seeking “a reasonable sum in excess of $50,000, and costs of suit.” Porter’s family seeks more than $75,000 for each of the suit’s 12 counts.