Mother faces charges in drunken driving crash that killed daughter, 3

Detroit — A 31-year-old Detroit woman faces drunk driving and child abuse charges in a late May crash that killed one of her daughters and injured another. 

On Wednesday, 31-year-old Destiny Adams was arraigned at Detroit's 36th District Court on three felony charges: operating while intoxicated, causing death; operating while intoxicated causing serious injury; and second-degree child abuse.

The fatal crash took place at about 11:35 p.m. May 23 in the area of West Chicago and Forrer. That's just west of Greenfield on the city's west side.

Killed in the crash was 3-year-old Ava Adams-Edwards. She died on May 25 of "multiple injuries," according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office. Her death was an accident. A second daughter, 10, was in critical condition.

Police say Adams' 2008 Saturn was struck by a GMC Sierra. The driver of the Sierra, a 61-year-old man, fled the crash scene on foot but was soon arrested, said Cpl. Dan Donakowski, a Detroit Police Department spokesman.

That man, Donel Walker, was charged with four counts of reckless driving causing severe impairment of body functions, one count of failure to stop at the scene of a personal injury crash and operating on a suspended license. He was not charged with drunk driving, though.

At his probable cause conference, one of Walker's reckless driving charges was amended from "causing severe impairment" to "causing death," said Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. 

The crash took place just feet from the family's home on West Chicago. Media accounts from the time indicate the family had just pulled up to the house.

Walker was bound over for trial in July, and has a pretrial hearing Friday. His jury trial is set to begin Oct. 7 before Judge Tracy Green. 

At her arraignment Wednesday, magistrate Laura Echartea gave Adams a bond of $30,000/10 percent.

She remains an inmate at Wayne County Jail as of Thursday morning. She's due back in court on Sept. 19 for a probable cause conference and on Sept. 24 for a preliminary examination, both before Judge Lynise Bryant.

If Adams posts bond, she's prohibited from both drinking and driving. She has petitioned for a court-appointed attorney.