Michigan woman pleads no contest in 2022 pond crash resulting in drowning deaths of her 3 sons.
A Mother’s Tragic Loss: Sons Drown in Ice-Covered Pond
HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich.—In a heart-wrenching incident, a western Michigan woman faced the devastating loss of her three young sons last year. Their lives were tragically cut short when her SUV crashed into an ice-covered pond. Now, she has pleaded no contest to several charges related to the crash.
An Ottawa County judge accepted Leticia Gonzales’s no contest plea on Monday. She pleaded no contest to operating while intoxicated causing serious injury and three misdemeanor charges of moving violation causing death.
The Holland-area woman is scheduled to be sentenced on September 25. Sentencing guidelines indicate a possible incarceration period ranging from seven months to two years.
Tragic Accident Claims Young Lives
Ottawa County police revealed that Ms. Gonzales was driving her sport utility vehicle in February 2022 when tragedy struck. She veered off the left side of a road, jumped a curb, and the SUV rolled into an ice-covered retention pond. Tragically, her sons, Jerome III (4), Jeremiah (3), and Josiah (1), drowned while strapped into their child-restraint seats.
Despite the harrowing incident, Ms. Gonzales managed to escape with minor injuries. However, police allege that she was impaired by two doses of methadone, a medication used for drug addiction treatment and pain relief. It is believed that she had taken the medication on the morning of the fatal crash.
Ms. Gonzales faced charges in July 2022, including three counts of operating while intoxicated causing death.
In June, she withdrew her earlier no-contest plea to a single count of operating while intoxicated causing death. This decision came after the judge indicated his intention to sentence her to four years in prison.
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