Police: Holland mom charged with driving while intoxicated in triple-fatal crash
HOLLAND TWP. — The mother of three young boys killed in a rollover crash in February has been arrested and charged for driving while intoxicated.
More: Investigation into February triple-fatal crash ongoing
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More: Narcotics suspected in rollover crash that killed three children
Leticia Marie Gonzales, 30, of Holland, was charged Tuesday, July 19, with three counts of operating while intoxicated causing death. She was taken into police custody Wednesday after being arraigned via Zoom in front of Judge Bradley Knoll in Holland's 58th District Court.
Gonzales was driving westbound on James Street in a 2004 Chevy Tahoe on the morning of Feb. 17. According to police, the Tahoe drifted across the center turn lane, then crossed both eastbound lanes of James Street before hitting the curb and exiting the roadway. The vehicle rolled, landing on its roof in a pond.
Gonzales was able to exit the vehicle, but the three children were stuck inside until first responders arrived and extricated them.
The children — Josiah, Jerome III and Jeremiah — all younger than 5, were trapped in the overturned vehicle and icy water for 10-17 minutes.
None of the children survived. Jerome and Jeremiah were pronounced dead at the scene, while Josiah was transported to an area hospital before succumbing to his injuries several hours later.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by WZZM, Gonzales misused a prescription drug hours before the crash. It took months of processing to determine the drug, methadone, was in her system.
While it's legal to drive while taking methadone in Michigan, the drug — sometimes prescribed to treat an opioid use disorder — can be abused.
According to the affidavit, Gonzales took a prescribed dose of methadone at a clinic the morning of the crash — but a witness said they gave her another unprescribed dose a few hours before the fatal rollover.
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Gonzales is being held in the Ottawa County Jail on a $250,000 cash/surety bond. She's due in court at 9:45 a.m. Friday, July 29, for a probable cause conference and at 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5, for a preliminary examination.
Over the past dozen years, Gonzales has pleaded guilty four times to charges of driving without a license and to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by false representation.
The charges against Gonzales are felonies, and carry a prison sentence up to 15 years.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland woman charged with driving while intoxicated in fatal crash
