Oakdale woman has second court hearing on murder, DUI counts in daughter’s death
A judge granted a nearly eight-week delay for an Oakdale woman accused of murder in the canal crash that killed her young daughter.
The attorney for Juliette Acosta, 26, made the request Wednesday, May 7, in Stanislaus County Superior Court. It was the second arraignment hearing in the March 9 death of Reagan Herrin, 4.
Judge Valli Israels postponed the matter to June 30 after defense attorney Gil Somera said he needed the time to review investigative records. The prosecution did not object.
Acosta has yet to enter a plea to the charges, which also include felony drunk driving. She has been in Stanislaus County jail since her April 11 arrest on a no-bail warrant. Somera said he will ask for bail to be set at some amount June 30.
About 40 people — family members and others — turned out once again for the hearing. They did not speak with the media afterward. Acosta wore a striped jail uniform and wrist shackles both times.
The crash was reported at about 11 p.m. March 8 on Arlberg Road where it ends at Canal Bank Road and the Turlock Main Canal. The California Highway Patrol said Reagan was stuck in her car seat inside the fully submerged vehicle. She was removed by a sheriff’s deputy and an uncle who lives nearby but died the next day at a Modesto hospital, the CHP said.
A news release from the District Attorney’s Office said Acosta had more than three times the legal level of alcohol in her blood at the time. She was initially booked on a felony drunk driving charge and released on bail.
The release said Acosta’s second arrest was at a San Francisco hotel, while she was trying to flee. Her attorney told The Modesto Bee at the time that she had planned to surrender at the Modesto CHP office later that day.
Somera also said the child’s death does not merit a murder charge. That requires proof that a person drank and drove with “malice aforethought.” Acosta faces life in state prison if convicted on that count.
This story was originally published May 7, 2025 at 5:45 PM.
