A California mother faces murder charges in the death of her 4-year-old daughter. Juliette Marie Acosta, 26, allegedly drove drunk with her daughter, Reagan Herrin, on March 8 and crashed her car into an irrigation canal. After the crash, the reportedly inebriated mom allegedly didn’t try to get her daughter out of the car. Instead, authorities say Acosta abandoned Reagan in the submerged car and went home to take a bath.
Acosta’s uncle arrived and helped rescue the mother from the car, the Sacramento Bee reported. The uncle also went into the water with a deputy to get Reagan. Emergency responders determined Reagan was not stable enough for a helicopter ride. First responders opted to take her by ambulance to an area hospital. Tragically, she died at the hospital.
According to a release from Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero, Acosta went home to take a bath after leaving the crash scene near Canal Bank Road in Hickman. She allegedly abandoned Reagan without assisting in her rescue. Per a criminal complaint, her blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit at the time of her arrest. Police initially booked her on felony DUI charges, but prosecutors quickly upgraded the changes.
Following a “meticulous” investigation by the California Highway Patrol, Acosta now faces charges of murder, vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, and permitting a child to suffer under circumstances likely to cause significant bodily injury or death. She also faces charges of delaying or obstructing a public officer, peace officer, or emergency medical technician.
“We recognize the significant interest the community has in this case,” Laugero shared in a release. “However, our responsibility to both the victim and the integrity of our legal system requires a thorough investigation based on the evidence and the law. This methodical approach ensures that justice is pursued based on accurate information. I appreciate the public’s patience and understanding in protecting the process and ensuring our ethical obligations are met. Justice requires our absolute adherence to these standards.”
A judge ordered her jailed without bail. If convicted, Acosta faces life in prison.
Her attorney, Gil Somera, defended his client to the Independent, “Timeline-wise, it’s almost impossible to have done both of those,” he said. “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.”
Somera added his client did not flee the scene, and losing her daughter devastated her.
“It’s about whether it’s a manslaughter versus a murder,” Somera said. “And so I think the public always looks at this and says, ‘Well, you did or you didn’t do it.’ Guilt is guilt, but it’s the degree of guilt, it’s the circumstances that center around with punishment is necessary, and right now everyone wants to circle around life in prison to a mother.”
Trace Thomas created a GoFundMe for Reagan’s father, Gage Herrin. It has raised more than $22,000 so far.
