Woman cited with DUI in fatal Lower Wacker crash

By Alice Yin

A woman who crashed her vehicle Friday morning on Lower Wacker Drive and killed a 1-year-old girl was issued citations for driving under the influence and driving without a license.

At 1:09 a.m., a Mazda 3 was heading west in the first block of West Lower Wacker and made a U-turn at an intersection, according to Chicago police. It struck an Acura MDX driving east on a green light and then careened into a wall.

Amaria Glenn, a 1-year-old, was ejected from the Mazda, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital in critical condition before dying within the hour.

A police source said she was not in a car seat during the crash, and that she was related to the driver who caused the crash.

Shattered glass covered the underground street as detectives walked between the vehicles about 3 a.m. The Mazda rested against a pole with its doors swung open, windows broken and airbags blown up.

The Acura’s front hood was damaged, but the vehicle otherwise remained intact beside a black gate on the street.

Lower Wacker Drive remained closed off from Michigan Avenue to Post Place until about 5:30 a.m.

The 1-year-old died of multiple blunt force injuries from the crash, according to an autopsy released Saturday afternoon by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Inside the Acura were two women, 18 and 19, and two men, both 19, who all declined medical treatment, police said.

The driver of the Mazda, a 29-year-old woman, and a 29-year-old man who was a passenger, were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said. Both were seriously hurt, and there was no update on their condition as of Saturday afternoon.

The woman was cited for driving under the influence, failure to yield right-of-way, violation of child restraint law, driving an uninsured motor vehicle and not having a driver’s license, police said. Possible criminal charges were pending, police said Saturday.

Glenn lived in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, the medical examiner’s office said. She was initially identified by Chicago police as a 3-year-old.

The woman is scheduled to appear in traffic court on Jan. 18.