HARTFORD CITY, Ind. — A Blackford County woman convicted last year of killing a 5-year-old boy and his great-grandfather in a drunk driving crash now wants two of her convictions set aside.

Brandi S. Bare, now 47, last November was sentenced to 57 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to two counts each of causing death when driving while intoxicated, reckless homicide and causing serious bodily injury while driving drunk.

Authorities said Bare was drunk — with a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal amount for motorists — on June 2, 2022, when her car slammed into the house of Montpelier resident Jerry A. "Jake" Michael.

The 73-year-old homeowner and his great-grandson, Jenson Reynolds, were killed. Two other famly members, including Jenson's one-year-old sister, were seriously injured.

In recent days, Bare — incarcerated at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis — filed a petition for post-conviction relief, contending she should not have been sentenced for both the causing death and reckless homicide convictions that stemmed "from the same deaths and the same actions."

More: Police: Blackford driver tried to flee after crash that killed great-grandfather, child

She also said her defense attorney had committed a "fundamental error" by instructing her to enter guilty pleas without negotiating a plea agreement.

In her motion, Bare also contended Blackford Superior Court Judge Nick Barry — who imposed a maximum sentence — had a duty to "point out and remedy fundamentally unfair issues in his court," and called his purported failure to do so "suspicious."

Bare also filed a motion to move her case to another county and a new judge, noting that 8,000 people had "signed (an online) petition" in the wake of her arrest asking that her bond be increased.

In July, the Indiana Court of Appeals rejected an appeal filed by Bare that raised some of the same issues.

In that 3-0 ruling, Judge Terry Crone wrote Bare had "waived review of her double jeopardy claim" by entering guilty pleas and also failed to persuade the appeals court the length of her sentence was inappropriate.

"This case indeed represents the worst of the worst," the judge wrote. "Bare chose to operate her vehicle while she was severely intoxicated. In doing so, she plowed through a house where a family that included very young children was gathering.

"She killed two people and severely injured two others who continue to suffer the lasting physical and psychological effects of the damage inflicted upon them."

According to a state Department of Correction website, Bare's projected release date is in June 2064, when she would be 88.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Blackford woman convicted in fatal crash seeks sentence reduction