An Inkster woman who killed one of her children in a drunk driving crash in Farmington Hills was sentenced Thursday to one year in jail after pleading guilty to the crime.
As ordered by Oakland County Circuit Judge Jeffery Matis, Shelby Symone Ellis, 31, will also serve three years probation following her release from the Oakland County Jail. She was booked into the jail Thursday shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday.
Last February, Ellis pleaded guilty to operating while intoxicated-causing death for the 2022 crash that ended the life of her 3-year-old child — one of her six children who had been in the car with her. The youngster who died wasn’t in a child seat and wasn’t restrained by a seatbelt when the crash occurred, police said.
Ellis’ blood alcohol level was reportedly measured at .26 percent soon after the crash, which is nearly three times the legal limit.
The crash happened at the intersection of Eight Mile and Inkster roads at around 2:30 a.m. Aug. 27, 2022, when Ellis collided with a vehicle driven by a 33-year-old Detroit man traveling westbound on Eight Mile Road. Ellis and her surviving children — 10, 7, 5, 18 months and 8 months old at the time — as well as the other driver, were injured in the crash, police said.
Ellis faced up to 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.
Along with the OWI causing death charge, Ellis had also been charged with operating under the influence of liquor with an occupant less than 16 years old, but prosecutors dismissed that charge — a misdemeanor — with her guilty plea for the other crime.
As stated earlier in court, Ellis was employed with a cleaning service at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. She had been permitted to stay out of jail on a personal bond — requiring no cash or surety to be posted — since late August 2022.
A restitution hearing is scheduled for July 18.