Police have charged a mom from California after she allegedly crashed her car into a canal and left it there with her daughter still inside. The 4-year-old girl did not survive.
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Per a lengthy
press release by the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office, the incident occurred during the night on March 8. Police initially arrested the mom, Juliette Maria Acosta, 26, from Oakdale, for felony DUI. On April 11, authorities charged her with the murder of her daughter, Reagan Herrin, 4.The report alleges that Acosta drove into an irrigation canal near the town of Hickman. According to the Daily Mail, she sideswiped a pole in her Subaru SUV and drove up an embankment before ending up in the water. Authorities accuse Acosta of leaving the partially submerged SUV with her daughter still trapped inside. Police reportedly located her taking a bath while her child died at the crash site.
The Daily Mail reports that Acosta's uncle heard the crash and retrieved Acosta, but couldn't free Herrin. Authorities reportedly found Acosta taking a bath in a hotel room 'while her daughter remained in peril at the crash scene.'
Acosta's uncle and a trooper from the California Highway Patrol reportedly freed the 4-year-old from the car, and Emergency Services transported her to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. Herrin did not survive.
The Mom Was Reportedly Almost Three Times Over The Limit
According to the press release, Acosta was allegedly 'driving with a blood alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit of .08%' when she crashed. She reportedly faces multiple charges, including murder, vehicular manslaughter, and DUI. The release notes that Acosta could face life in prison if convicted on all charges.
Acosta's attorney, Gil Somera, told The Independent that prosecutors were trying to "inflame the public's anger." He reportedly said, "Timeline-wise, it's almost impossible to have done both of those. Time-wise, you can't go take a bath while your daughter's drowning if it's in her canal, not next to a home. Logically, it just doesn't make sense."
A GoFundMe has been set up for Reagan's father to help with unexpected costs.
