Woman charged in Lower Wacker crash that killed 1-year-old girl
Adreannia Donaldson | Chicago police arrest photo
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - A woman has been charged with driving while high and drunk and causing a crash Friday on Lower Wacker Drive that ejected and killed her 1-year-old daughter.
Adreannia Donaldson, 29, began the night hanging out with her boyfriend and ingesting marijuana before leaving to get something to eat at Subway, Cook County prosecutors said Sunday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
Just after 1 a.m., Donaldson was driving on Lower Wacker when she failed to yield to traffic while turning left at Garvey Court and struck an oncoming vehicle, Assistant State’s Attorney Britt Steinberg said.
Donaldson’s daughter, 23-month-old Amaria Glenn, was ejected from the car and killed, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Glenn had been wearing a seatbelt but was not secured in a car seat, Steinberg said.
Witnesses and nearby construction workers came to Donaldson’s vehicle and found her unconscious in the driver’s seat, Steinberg said.
Donaldson was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where tests showed she had cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines in her system, Steinberg said. Donaldson also had a blood-alcohol level of .083, which is slightly above the legal limit.
Donaldson, of the Gresham neighborhood, was charged with a felony count of aggravated DUI and several misdemeanors including a child restraint violation, driving without a license, driving without insurance and failing to yield.
Judge Mary Marubio set Donaldson’s bail to $20,000, citing her previous escape conviction in 2009, for which she was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Donaldson was set to appear in court again Monday for a bail review, Marubio said.
The Illinois Department of Child and Family Service has opened an investigation into Donaldson for an allegation of death by neglect, according to an agency spokesman. DCFS had previously investigated Donaldson last January, but the allegations were determined to be unfounded.