HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A mother who admitted to being under the influence of methadone when she crashed her SUV into an icy pond in Ottawa County, killing her three young children, has taken a plea deal.
Leticia Gonzales pleaded no contest to one count of operating while intoxicated causing death. As part of the plea deal, two additional counts were dropped.
The deadly crash happened on February 17, 2022, on James Street in Holland Township.
Investigators say the SUV Leticia was driving when her SUV hit a curb, overturned and landed upside down in a retention pond. Authorities said the retention pond was about 3-4 feet deep and frozen over with about a half-foot of ice at the time.
Four-year-old Jerome Gonzales, 3-year-old Jeremiah Gonzales and 1-year-old Josiah Gonzales all died as a result of the crash.
Court documents obtained by FOX 17 revealed that methadone was detected in the mother's bloodfollowing an analysis of a sample taken after the crash.
Methadone is used to treat pain or narcotic drug addiction.
According to court documents, Gonzalez admitted to deputies that she took it regularly as part of a treatment program.
She ingested her "normal dose" of methadone at a licensed facility the morning of the crash, but afterward, she asked to "borrow a dose" of it from someone else. They told deputies she had to come to them before while being "dopesick" and asked about Methadone that they had access to.
Deputies say Gonzalez picked up the extra dose of methadone from the other person's home with her three children in the car. The crash was reported shortly afterward.
Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced on May 30.
