Drunk mom crashed into canal, left to take bath while toddler drowned: DA
A California woman accused of impaired driving has been charged with murder following the death of her four-year-old daughter in a car crash.
Juliette Marie Acosta, 26, was initially charged with driving under the influence after she allegedly drove into an irrigation canal on March 8 near Hickman, Calif., the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office said in a press release.
Acosta's blood-alcohol level was almost three times the legal limit at the time of the crash, prosecutors alleged.
Prosecutors alleged that she left her submerged car while her daughter, Reagan Herrin, was trapped in her car seat.
Acosta was 'located taking a bath while her daughter remained in peril at the crash scene,' the DA's office said.
Reagan was eventually pulled from the car by her uncle, who lives near the scene, the Sacramento Bee reported, but the little girl reportedly died in hospital the next day.
Acosta's attorney, Gil Somera, told the Independent that the allegation that his client was taking a bath was false.
'Timeline-wise, it's almost impossible to have done both of those,' Somera told the outlet.
'Time-wise, you can't go take a bath while your daughter's drowning if it's in (a) canal, not next to a home … logically, it just doesn't make sense.'
Acosta was slapped with a slew of additional charges — including murder — on Friday.
She was detained at a San Francisco hotel after she tried to flee, and her father was also taken into custody for allegedly trying to help her escape, according to the Bee.
'Any suggestion that my client was attempting to flee is completely false,' Somera said.
Acosta is being held without bail, the DA's office said.
If convicted, she could face life in prison.
'It's about whether it's a manslaughter versus a murder,' Somera told the Independent. 'And so I think the public always looks at this and says, 'Well, you did or you didn't do it.'
He added: 'Guilt is guilt, but it's the degree of guilt, it's the circumstances that centre around with punishment is necessary, and right now everyone wants to circle around life in prison to a mother.
A GoFundMe launched for Reagan's father has raised more than $22,000 US.
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