Mom allegedly crashed into canal and left her 4-year-old daughter trapped in submerged car to die
04/16/2025 2:23 pm PDT
STANISLAUS COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) -- A 26-year-old woman faces charges after allegedly driving while under the influence, crashing, and leaving her young daughter trapped inside the car to die.
According to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, on the night of March 8, authorities initially arrested Juliette Acosta on a DUI charge. KCRA-TV reports that Acosta was driving with her 4-year-old daughter when she allegedly sideswiped a telephone pole and crashed into an irrigation canal near the town of Hickman.
A deputy reportedly attempted to rescue the child, identified by prosecutors as Reagan Herrin. She was transported to a hospital, where she later died.
The criminal complaint alleges that Acosta was driving with a blood alcohol content around three times the legal limit at the time.
Acosta allegedly "left her partially submerged car while her daughter remained trapped inside." The mother reportedly failed to render aid to her daughter, and authorities found her taking a bath "while her daughter remained in peril at the crash scene."
The district attorney’s office announced April 11 that Acosta now faces charges of murder, vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, permitting a child to suffer under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death, and resisting, delaying, or obstructing a public officer, peace officer, or emergency medical technician.
Acosta faces up to life in prison if convicted on all charges. She remains held in the Stanislaus County Jail without bail.
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