Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney updates media about an officer-involved shooting near DeForest Sunday. (Photo: Andrew Beckett)
The Sauk County district attorney has filed criminal charges against a West Allis man, accused of firing a gun into a vehicle and fatally injuring an Illinois woman.
The charges against 20-year-old Zachary T. Hays include one count of First Degree Intentional Homicide and three counts of First Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety. The intentional homicide charge carries a mandatory life sentence, if Hays is convicted.
The charges are the result of a shooting on Interstate-90/94 on Sunday, where Hays is accused of firing three shots into a passing car, with one of the bullets hitting 44-year-old Tracey Czaczkowski of suburban Chicago. She was pronounced brain dead on Tuesday and was taken off life support after her organs were donated.
Hays was taken into custody Sunday, after law enforcement officials used tire spikes on the interstate in Dane County to stop his SUV. He was then shot by two Columbia County Sheriff’s deputies, after exiting the vehicle and refusing orders to drop his weapon.
Hays is also a suspect in a fatal shooting of 42-year-old Gabriel Sanchez in West Allis on Sunday morning.
He has not yet been booked in to jail and remains hospitalized under police guard at UW Hospital in Madison, where he’s recovering from his injuries.