A California mother is facing murder charges after prosecutors say she left her four-year-old daughter to die, trapped in a submerged SUV, all while she allegedly went home to take a bath.
Juliette Marie Acosta, 26, is now in custody and charged with multiple felonies including murder, felony DUI, and resisting arrest, following a deadly March 8 crash near Hickman, California.
Her daughter, Reagan Herrin, was in the backseat of Acosta’s Subaru SUV when it veered into an irrigation canal.
Authorities say Acosta’s blood alcohol content was nearly three times the legal limit, The Independent reports.
According to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, Acosta fled the scene of the crash while her daughter was still strapped into her car seat.
She is accused of leaving Reagan “in peril,” with prosecutors alleging she was later found taking a bath while her daughter remained submerged in the vehicle.
Emergency responders initially attempted to airlift Reagan, but determined she was too unstable and instead transported her by ambulance. The four-year-old died the next day in the hospital.
Authorities say Reagan’s uncle, who lived nearby, raced to the scene and helped pull Acosta from the vehicle, per The Sacramento Bee. He then worked with a deputy to rescue Reagan from the icy water. “Heroically, and without hesitation, [they] entered the frigid water and rescued” the child, said California Highway Patrol spokesperson Tom Olsen.
Acosta, who was not injured in the crash, was initially arrested for DUI and later released on bail. On Friday, police tracked her down at a San Francisco hotel after prosecutors filed new charges, including murder. Officers say she tried to flee, and her father, Clifford Acosta Jr., was also detained after allegedly assisting in her attempted escape.
Acosta’s attorney, Gil Somera, disputed those claims and said he had arranged for her to voluntarily surrender. “Any suggestion that my client was attempting to flee is completely false,” Somera told The Independent. “Such an accusation is not only unfounded, but appears intended to inflame public opinion and provoke scorn.”
He also rejected the bath allegation, calling it logistically impossible. “Timeline-wise, it's almost impossible to have done both of those,” Somera 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.”
He insisted Acosta’s father wasn’t helping her escape but was trying to support his daughter. “She was emotionally and psychologically devastated,” Somera said. “Anybody who knows her father knows that he has a substantial amount of construction business in San Francisco, and he kept his daughter with her. She was also part of his business.”
Acosta is now being held without bail and faces the possibility of life in prison. “It’s about whether it's a manslaughter versus a murder,” Somera said. “Guilt is guilt, but it's the degree of guilt, it's the circumstances that center around what punishment is necessary, and right now everyone wants to circle around life in prison to a mother.”
A GoFundMe created for Reagan’s father, Gage Herrin, has raised more than $22,000, surpassing its $14,000 goal.
“Any remaining money that has been donated after expenses will be donated back to the community on Reagan's behalf in hopes to prevent incidents like this from happening in the future,” the campaign page reads.
“Thank you again for all your continued support and we pray that justice is served for Reagan.”