CA mom arrested fleeing murder charge in DUI crash that killed her child, DA says
An Oakdale woman found in San Francisco while trying to flee arrest now faces a murder charge in the March 8 canal crash that killed her 4-year-old daughter, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office reported Friday.
Juliette Marie Acosta, 26, initially was charged with felony drunk driving in the death of Reagan Herrin. The new charge was announced Friday by the DA’s Office.
Acosta was arrested early Friday morning at a downtown San Francisco hotel after trying to flee, Chief Deputy District Attorney Wendell Emerson said by phone. He said Acosta’s father, Clifford Acosta Jr., was detained there on suspicion of aiding his daughter’s flight.
The California Highway Patrol had tried to serve a no-bail warrant for second-degree murder in Stanislaus County, Emerson said. Julietta Acosta had been free on bail on the DUI count.
The CHP reported earlier that Acosta was driving a Subaru SUV that went into a canal east of Hickman. The child remained trapped in her car seat while her mother was atop the fully submerged vehicle, the CHP said.
The report said Acosta was rescued by her uncle, who lives nearby. He also helped a sheriff’s deputy remove the child from the car seat, the CHP said. Reagan died the next day at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto.
The crash was reported at about 11 p.m. on Arlberg Road where it ends at Canal Bank Road and the Turlock Main Canal.
The CHP said Acosta was not injured and was arrested at the scene on the DUI charge. As of Thursday, online records show no appearances on that count in Stanislaus Superior Court.
The Acostas remained in San Francisco as of 8:30 a.m. Friday. Emerson said the mother could also face a charge of evading arrest.
A GoFundMe account was created to aid the child’s father, Gage Herrin, with “unexpected expenses” due to Reagan’s death. It had raised $22,270 as of April 7, well beyond 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 appeal said. “Thank you again for all your continued support and we pray that justice is served for Reagan.”
Officer Tom Olsen, spokesperson for the CHP in Stanislaus, praised the unnamed deputy and uncle in a March 9 email to The Modesto Bee.
“Law enforcement officers take an oath to risk their own lives rather than swerve from the path of duty,” Olsen said. “Although unharmed, this deputy did exactly that.”
