Tragic Intent: Mother’s Attempted Murder-suicide Leads to 18-year Sentence

A Wichita mother was sentenced to more than 18 years in prison on Thursday after using meth and driving over 100 mph with her 5-year-old daughter, resulting in a multi-car catastrophe that she later claimed she caused because she wanted to kill herself.

Paloma Bella Adame, 28, pleaded guilty on March 1 to attempted first-degree murder and five counts of aggravated battery in connection with the Oct. 23, 2022, wreck near Andover that left seven people hospitalized with injuries ranging from bruises and cuts to loss of consciousness and a traumatic brain injury.

On Thursday morning, Sedgwick County District Judge Seth Rundle sentenced Adame to 219 months in prison and ordered him to pay more than $3,000 in court and attorney expenses, according to Dan Dillon, a spokesperson for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

Adame remains in the Sedgwick County Jail, where she has remained since her arrest on January 12, 2023. She will shortly be sent to the Kansas Department of Corrections to complete her prison sentence. Dillon stated that she will be supervised for a further three years following her release.

According to the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, Adame’s 5-year-old “was not properly restrained” as she drove a Kia Sportage at 116 mph nearly full throttle in the seconds before colliding with vehicles stopped at a red light at U.S. 54 and 143rd Street East. She was traveling at 92 mph at the time of the collision and had consumed methamphetamine before the crash, according to a probable cause document submitted by the court.

It happened just before 4 p.m.

Witnesses claimed to have witnessed the Kia flip and twist in the air before landing on top of a Florida family’s car, shattering the roof above a newborn and skidding to a stop. According to the affidavit, witnesses informed police that Adame was speeding, passing on the shoulder, and whirling about in traffic with no concern for other drivers.

According to the complaint, her father contacted 911 several minutes before the incident to warn her that she was intoxicated, suicidal, and could harm others after seeing her driving in the wrong lanes, in reverse, and acting erratically on another route. According to the affidavit, Adame’s mother told police that her daughter “seemed paranoid,” was “behaving strangely,” and said she “could not handle life anymore” in the days preceding the collision.

Witnesses removed Adame’s daughter from the Kia after discovering her “stuck face-first” between the dashboard and the windscreen, with a broken leg and bruises on her hip and head. After Adame was freed from the wreckage, she took the girl out of the arms of a witness who had been comforting her and began swinging her at bystanders, “as if she was trying (to) fend them off,” according to the affidavit.

She exhibited unusual behavior at the crash site, including using her kid “as a weapon” against others, yelling incoherently, attempting to flee, fighting with rescuers, and kicking deputies who detained her, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, she reportedly made alarming comments to hospital officials, including the claim that the crash was not an accident and that she had attempted suicide.