A Gary mom is facing decades behind bars after a Christmas Eve rollover crash in 2022 that killed one child and injured a baby. She tested nearly twice the legal limit for alcohol.
Amber A. Biddings, 33, has not been apprehended. She is ordered held on a $90,000, or $9,000 cash surety bond.
She was charged Friday with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony; neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 3 felony; causing death when operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Level 4 felony; causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Level 5 felony; two counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person with a passenger less than 18 years of age, both Level 6 felonies; and one misdemeanor.
Gary Police Detective Sergeant Ryan Martens wrote that officers responded to a “serious” crash on Dec. 24, 2022 on the 3500 block of E. Dunes Highway. The weather was bad — with blowing slow, high winds and freezing temperatures.
Biddings’ Chevrolet Malibu had rolled over and came to a stop against a tall, metal power line tower. Her two children were inside. One child, identified in court documents by initials A.M., 6, was transported to the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital.
That child died Dec. 28, 2022, just before 1 p.m., from multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Her son, K.B., then nearly 5 months old, was taken to a hospital with “multiple fractures.”
Biddings had minor injuries and was transported to Methodist Northlake in Gary. A blood test later showed a .15 BAC.
She later told investigators she was driving home with her kids and lost control of the car in bad weather. She wasn’t sure how fast she was driving, but was probably going a little over the speed limit, since she drove the road regularly.
The baby was in a belted car seat, while the other child, A.M., was wearing a seat belt, but not in a booster seat.
Biddings told police she had a “couple” glasses of wine and some tequila, but believed she was ok to drive.
