Cops: Woman in fatal crash was 'reaching for chip'

A woman driving drunk on the Dan Ryan Expressway was picking up a chip when she lost control of her car and smashed into a guard rail, killing a baby and seriously injuring three other children, officials said today.
Joannie Pittman, 47, of the 5200 block of South Paulina Street, has been charged with aggravated DUI for an accident causing death and reckless homicide. She was ordered held on  $350,000 bail today, according to Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Pittman's blood alcohol level was .164, more than twice the legal limit, according to prosecutors.
The crash closed the expressway and jammed up holiday traffic for about two hours Monday night.
Pittman was one of eight people in the 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass as it traveled on the Dan Ryan at about 6:30 p.m., prosecutors said. "The car...only sits 5 and thus none of the children were in safety restraints, much less a car seat," prosecutors said in court today.
Pittman had bloodshot, glassy eyes and smelled of alcohol, according to a police report. She told authorities that she had been "drinking a lot of beer" at a barbecue and had lost control of the car while "reaching down to pick up a chip."
The car crashed into a guardrail at 75th Street and spun around seven times, prosecutors said. Witnesses said they saw the car swerving, and Illinois State Police found "numerous" open beer cans in the car, prosecutors said.
Killed in the crash was 11-month-old Everett Bramlett, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. at the scene. Everett would have turned a year old next week, the office said.
Prosecutors said an 8year-old boy is in critical condition at Comer Children's Hospital with a lacerated liver. A 3-year-old girl and a 4-year-old girl suffered fractured skulls.
Pittman's father, John Shinaul, said his daughter was with her sister and two family friends in the car. Two of the injured children were Pittman's nephew and niece, the two others -- including the deceased baby -- belonged to another woman in the car, according to Shinaul.
He said the group was on their way to the home of Pittman's sister to attend the birthday party for another child.  "She had just left home," said Shinaul. "The people in the car came up and they all left together."
Shinaul said his daughter did not appear drunk when he saw her as she left the home. "It's just an accident," Shinaul said.
According to the Illinois Secretary of State's office, Pittman had a valid license and clean driving record except for a 1999 citation for not driving with valid insurance.