Mom charged with DUI with three kids in car
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JACKSON, Tenn. — A Jackson mom was charged with driving under the influence and reckless endangerment after police say they caught her driving drunk with her three young children in the car. She was formally charged Thursday morning but told the judge she has done nothing wrong. Jackson police said Michelle Partee was driving drunk early Wednesday morning near the intersection of East Chester Street and Shannon Street. Police say her kids, ages 3, 5 and 7, were sleeping in the back all without seat belts. “My children were in seat belts but they took them off when they saw me get out of the car with police behind. I’ve been extremely depressed and afraid to go home, but all those charges I’m not guilty off,” Partee said from jail. WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News spoke with a mother who said she lost her 22-year-old daughter and three-month-old grandson 18 years ago to a drunk driver. “It has changed our lives,” Mary Ann Flowers said. “It has changed our priorities.” Flowers said she cannot fathom how irresponsible people can be. “I can’t imagine a mother putting three innocent lives in the danger that she put those children in,” Flowers said. Flowers belongs to Mothers Against Drunk Driving and speaks to DUI first offenders across Tennessee. “Just be responsible. Give your keys to someone else, make arrangements to stay there, whatever you have to do. Don’t get behind the wheel of that car.” Mothers Against Drunk Driving believe their efforts can eliminate drunk driving in our lifetime. “Is it fair if you had killed those children, then where would you be? Look at the guilt factor that you would’ve had,” Flowers said. After her court appearance Thursday morning, Partee posted $7,500 bond and was allowed to go home.
