St. Jacob man charged in March fatal crash

By Pat Pratt

ppratt@timestribunenews.com

Madison County state’s attorneys have charged a St. Jacob man with vehicular-homicide offenses in the March death of 18-year-old Joshua Melton of Highland. 

Charging documents show 22-year-old David J. Frey faces felony counts of aggravated driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or more resulting in death, aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in death and reckless homicide. 

Circuit Judge Amy Maher set bail at $150,000 and ordered conditions requested by state’s attorneys that Frey not drive pending any further order of the court and not use any alcohol or controlled substances. 

The crash that claimed the life of Melton happened March 2 on Illinois State Route 143 in Madison County. Further details of the crash were not immediately available. The Times-Tribune has reached out to Illinois State Police requesting additional information. 

State’s attorneys in the complaint wrote Frey was driving a 2020 Volkswagen Jetta in a reckless manner while under the influence, resulting in the death of Melton. 

Melton graduated from Triad High School in 2022 and worked at Aggressive Graphics in Highland, according to his obituary.