Mom who killed her own child in drunk driving crash faces 1 year in prison – The Oakland Press

Oakland County Jail (Aileen Wingblad/MediaNews Group)

An Inkster woman who killed one of her children in a crash caused by a drunk driver in Farmington Hills was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison after pleading guilty.

Shelby Symone Ellis, 31, will also serve three years of probation after her release from Oakland County Jail, according to an order by Oakland County District Judge Jeffery Matis. She was booked into the jail just before 4 p.m. Thursday.

Last February, Ellis pleaded guilty to operating under the influence of alcohol and causing death in the 2022 crash that ended the life of her 3-year-old child – one of six children who was in the car with her. Police said the child who died was not in a child seat and was not wearing a seat belt when the crash occurred.

Shortly after the crash, Ellis’ blood-alcohol level was reported to be 0.26 percent, almost three times the legal limit.

The crash occurred at the intersection of Eight Mile and Inkster roads around 2:30 a.m. on August 27, 2022, when Ellis collided with a vehicle driven by a 33-year-old Detroit man traveling westbound on Eight Mile Road. Ellis and her surviving children – ages 10, 7, 5, 18 and 8 months – and the other driver were injured in the crash, police said.

Ellis faced up to 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.

In addition to the DUI manslaughter charge, Ellis was also charged with driving under the influence with a male passenger under the age of 16, but prosecutors dismissed that charge — a misdemeanor — and she pleaded guilty to another felony.

Ellis was previously employed by a cleaning company at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the court heard. She has been out of jail on personal recognizance bail — which does not require cash or a surety — since late August 2022.

The reprivatization hearing is scheduled for July 18.