Portland woman charged with manslaughter, DUII in OR-58 crash that killed 5-year-old

Megan Banta, Register-Guard
·2 min read

A 26-year-old Portland woman faces manslaughter and five other charges for a November crash on OR-58 that caused the death of a 5-year-old girl.

Oregon State Troopers arrested Amber Gonzalez-Riddle Thursday. She's lodged in the Lane County Jail.

Gonzalez-Riddle faces three felonies and three misdemeanors for a two-vehicle crash that happened at about 6 p.m. Nov. 20 near Willamette Pass.

According to court documents, she was driving home to Portland from Bonanza, a small town about 24 miles east of Klamath Falls, in her Honda Accord with her boyfriend in the passenger seat and two children in the back seat.

Witnesses reported seeing the dark-colored Honda driving between 75 and 80 mph in a 55 mph zone, failing to stay in the right lane and passing other vehicles in no-passing zones, according to a probable cause affidavit.

She crossed the median at 6:09 p.m. and crashed into an oncoming Toyota Rav 4, which had two passengers, at milepost 61, located just northwest of Odell Lake near the line between Lane and Klamath counties.

Gonzalez-Riddle, her boyfriend, a 3-year-old and the two passengers in the Rav 4 went to the hospital with varying levels of injuries.

A 5-year-old girl in the back seat of the Accord died in the crash.

Gonzalez-Riddle is charged with second-degree manslaughter for her death. That carries a minimum sentence of 75 months.

Gonzalez-Riddle also faces:

  • Two counts of third-degree assault for seriously injuring the two passengers of the Toyota Rav 4. They had broken bones and soft tissue trauma, according to court documents

  • Two counts of reckless endangerment for creating a risk of serious injury for her boyfriend and the 3-year-old.

  • One count of DUII for driving while under the influence of liquor and/or cannabis.

Investigators say Gonzalez-Riddle had glassy, red eyes and alcohol on her breath when interviewed at the hospital and that she told a state trooper she had alcohol and marijuana before leaving Bonanza to drive to Portland and had more marijuana in Chemult.

A blood draw taken around two hours after the crash showed her blood alcohol level was 0.076%, the probable cause affidavit reads.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Woman charged with manslaughter, DUII in crash that killed 5-year-old