Theresa Fortner, 47, was charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, two counts of armed criminal action and endangering the welfare of a child. Associate Circuit Judge Barbara Peebles set bail at $300,000, cash only, court records show.
Police said Fortner's blood-alcohol content was 0.22 when she crashed her 2011 gray Toyota Camry the morning of July 4, 2011, as she exited the Loughborough Avenue exit from northbound Interstate 55, police said. The legal blood-alcohol limit to drive a vehicle in Missouri is 0.08.
The Arnold resident's car hit a street sign, a house, a tree and a fence and flipped over into a second tree. Police said an analysis of the black box from Fortner's car showed she never hit the brakes and was going 69 mph when she crashed. Fortner's granddaughter Bella Houston, aged 19 months, died of head injuries the next day at a hospital. According to a police search warrant for the airbag control module to Fortner's Camry, the car left the road and traveled 352 feet before stopping.
"A witness statement suggested Theresa Fortner had been drinking alcohol for several hours and was desperate to drop off the infant passenger at another family member's residence," the search warrant said.
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