110 MPH Deadly Crash In Frankfort: Husband's Incarceration Angers Defense Attorney Dave Carlson

JOLIET, IL — The main point of Thursday morning's court hearing for Frankfort aggravated DUI and reckless homicide defendant David Hampton was to quash the warrant for his arrest in connection with last May's traffic fatality that killed his wife, Nichelle.

However, after Hampton went to sleep at his home in Frankfort on Wednesday, the Will County Sheriff's Office warrants division took him away in handcuffs. Sheriff's deputies escorted the 56-year-old inmate into the Will County Courthouse for Thursday morning's hearing in front of Will County Judge Amy Christiansen.

Hampton's lawyer, former Will County judge Dave Carlson, was furious with Wednesday night's antics of the Will County Sheriff's Office. He asked Judge Christiansen to immediately release his client from the jail and give Carlson a few more days to prepare for the SAFE-T-Act pretrial hearing detention.

This week, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow filed a petition seeking to keep Hampton in custody in connection with his wife Nichelle's death last May.

Carlson told Judge Christiansen at Thursday morning's hearing in Courtroom 402 he was not prepared to have the pretrial detention hearing for his new client, Hampton.

"I have nothing as I stand here," Carlson said.

Carlson said he wanted to know why the State's Attorney's Office took nearly an entire year before filing criminal charges earlier this month and why the sheriff's office arrested his client hours before the Thursday morning hearing on Carlson's motion to quash the arrest warrant. The grand jury indictment against Hampton was made public last week.

"I'm quite aggravated," Carlson argued. "1:30 a.m. last night, and they got him out of bed. His 15-year-old daughter is home. I don't know why. I don't know why this became the number one case on the warrants department?"

Carlson told Judge Christiansen that in addition to requesting all of the prosecution's discovery — its evidence leading to the charges — Carlson also wanted to obtain all the Will County Sheriff's deputies' body camera video footage from Wednesday night's arrest of his client at his home in Frankfort.

Prosecutors at the Will County State's Attorney's Office informed Judge Christiansen there was good reason for the investigation into Nichelle Hampton's death to take nearly a full year before filing charges against her husband.

"She did not pass immediately after the accident," the prosecutor explained. "About a week after, she passed away due to the accident, and it changed the investigation from one thing to another."

According to Will County Circuit Court documents, a 911 call came in at 9:33 p.m. on May 5, 2025, reporting that a Nissan Maxima had crashed into a tree on St. Francis Road near Francis Lane in Frankfort.

David Hampton was in the driver's seat, wearing his seat belt, and Nichelle was in the front passenger seat. The car had heavy passenger-side damage, according to court documents.

David told Frankfort police he lost control of the vehicle, that the brakes went out, and that he had to swerve to avoid a vehicle coming the other way crossing into his lane, court documents state. He also told police he hadn't been drinking, prosecutors say.

David had minor injuries and was taken to Silver Cross Hospital, according to prosecutors. Nichelle, who was initially conscious and able to speak, had more severe injuries and was initially taken to Silver Cross before being transported to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where she died on May 13, 2025, according to court filings.

Three witnesses at the scene told police that David's vehicle actually crossed into the wrong lane of traffic and "there were no other vehicles to evade," court documents allege. In fact, prosecutors say, witnesses' vehicle actually had to swerve out of the way of the Nissan.

A search warrant on David Hampton's vehicle's black box showed its speed at 110.6 mph five seconds before the crash, according to court documents. The speed limit is 45 mph on St. Francis Road. Prosecutors also say his BAC was .138, nearly twice the legal limit, according to a sample taken about an hour and 15 minutes after the crash.

Nichelle Hampton was the medical director at WellBe Senior Medical, according to her LinkedIn page.

At Thursday's hearing, the prosecutor explained he did not know the circumstances of serving the arrest warrant upon Carlson's client. "Why they did it, I don't know," he said. "I don't have any information there."

In the end, Judge Christiansen explained that she really could not quash the warrant now that Hampton has been arrested and he's in custody. "It is what it is," she remarked.

The judge agreed with Carlson's request to delay the pretrial detention hearing until next Tuesday. All discovery and body camera videos of when Hampton was arrested must be provided to Carlson, the judge ruled.

"Thank you so much," Carlson replied.

"Defendant remanded," Judge Christiansen announced.