Woman dies in crash; baby found alive in back seat
<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">A Springfield woman was found dead inside her wrecked car Saturday morning, but her baby was still alive in the infant's safety seat in the back, authorities said.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Christina M. Tieman-Mayes, 27, formerly of Virden, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash west of Palmyra, about 40 miles southwest of Springfield, at 7:28 a.m. Her address was listed as Douglas Avenue in Springfield.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Her 1-year-old daughter was found safe in the back seat. The girl was conscious and crying when a passer-by discovered the frost-covered wreckage. </font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Macoupin County Sheriff Don Albrecht said the girl was dressed appropriately for the weather, and the fact that she remained awake probably contributed to her survival.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">A relative on Monday told The State Journal-Register the baby is hospitalized in St. Louis with swelling to her brain.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">A passing motorist noticed the wrecked 2000 Kia Sophia just after 6 a.m. and contacted authorities. The crash happened at Hunter and Pine roads, about 4 1/2 miles west of Palmyra in northern Macoupin County. </font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Deputies said Mayes was northbound on Hunter Road, failed to negotiate the T-intersection and hit an embankment on the north side of Pine Road.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Investigators believe the crash happened about 9:30 p.m. Friday, some time after Tieman-Mayes left a relative's house in the area.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">"It's a desolate area where there's not a lot of traffic," Albrecht said. "I'm assuming that if anybody would have come by there in the evening, they would have stopped and investigated."</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Some windows on the car were broken, but were not out of place, so the interior was not as open to the elements as it might otherwise have been, Albrecht noted.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">The crash remains under investigation by the Macoupin County sheriff's and coroner's offices.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Calvert and Ferry Funeral Home in Virden is in charge of arrangements. Tieman-Mayes has several children, and she has family in the Palmyra and Hettick areas, according to newspaper archives.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Jayette Bolinski can be reached at (217) 788-1530.</font>