A Wichita mother, charged with attempted first-degree murder in an eight-vehicle crash in which she was recorded speeding over 100 mph with her 5-year-old daughter in the car, told hospital staff she purposely destroyed .
An affidavit released by a Sedgwick County judge this week said the mother, 27-year-old Paloma Adame, returned to the hospital after being discharged and told workers the Oct. 23 confrontation in East Wichita near Andover “did not it was an accident and that he was attempting to kill himself.His public defender declined to comment on the case on Wednesday.
Adame also told a doctor and hospital staff that he had recently used methamphetamines, the affidavit says. Witnesses said she yelled at people who tried to help her, acted agitated, and made confusing statements like “You won’t kill me this time” and “I can’t be killed,” while trapped in the car, the affidavit says.
According to the affidavit, the red Kia Sportage’s airbag control unit recorded Adame traveling 180 km/h, nearly full throttle with no braking, 2 seconds before crashing into vehicles at a red light on US 54 and 143rd Street East just before 4:00 in the morning. October 23, a Sunday. Upon impact, he was going 92 mph, with no throttle and some braking, the affidavit said.
Witnesses described seeing the Kia flip and twist in the air and then land on a Florida family’s car, crushing the roof over a child in the back seat, before coming to a stop. Witnesses also reported seeing her speeding by, piggybacking, and hurtling through traffic with no regard for others, the affidavit says.
Adame’s father called 911 minutes before the crash, hoping law enforcement would stop her, after seeing her driving in the wrong lanes, driving in reverse and acting erratically on a different road, she says the affidavit. She told authorities she may be driving under the influence and she feared she was suicidal and could hurt someone, according to the affidavit.
In the days leading up to the crash, his mother told law enforcement that Adame “seemed paranoid,” had “behaved strange,” and told her he “couldn’t handle life anymore,” the affidavit says.
In all, the crash involved eight vehicles and at least seven people sustained injuries, ranging from bumps, bruises and cuts to loss of consciousness and a traumatic brain injury, the affidavit said.
Adame’s 5-year-old daughter, whom a witness pulled from her mother’s car after finding her “stuck face down” between the dashboard and windshield, suffered a broken leg and bruises on her hip and head. She was traveling in the front passenger seat.
Nobody was killed.
The 13-page affidavit provides what law enforcement officials deemed probable cause of Adame’s arrest, announced Jan. 13 by a spokesman for the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office. It also provides insight into why prosecutors charged Adame with one count of attempted first-degree murder and five counts of aggravated battery in the high-speed collision.
She was charged on Jan. 17 and is expected to return to court on Jan. 30, documents show. She remained in the Sedgwick County Jail Wednesday afternoon in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Erratic behavior after crash
The affidavit also details Adame’s unusual behavior at the crash site, after she crashed into other cars.
A doctor evaluating patients told authorities that after Adame was freed from the wreckage, she walked up to a witness who was comforting her daughter by the side of the road, pulled the baby out of their arms and “started rocking (the girl) addressed bystanders as if she were trying to repel them,” the affidavit says.
The doctor told authorities the 5-year-old girl was screaming and crying and was “at risk of falling to the floor”.
The doctor said Adame was “screaming gibberish and sounded like she was trying to flee the scene, fighting with rescuers and using (her 5-year-old daughter) as a weapon against them as she moved. . . away from the scene of the accident,” according to the affidavit.
When Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Deputies caught and handcuffed her, she fought and tried to kick them, hitting one in the leg, as she was taken to a patrol car, the affidavit says.
On the ride to the hospital, Adame remained silent and refused to answer questions about his or his daughter’s health history. Her daughter, meanwhile, acted “very scared” of Adame and later revealed that Adame had hit her while they were in the car and “hit her at home,” the affidavit says.
At the hospital, Adame told staff she’d been using methamphetamines for the past 24 hours and yelled across the room at her daughter, “I’m sorry we’re too good for this child of the world.” His urine and her blood tested positive for methamphetamine and tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive substance in marijuana, the affidavit said.
