HOLLAND, Mich. — An Ottawa County mother is facing three counts of operating while intoxicated causing death five months after a deadly crash that killed three young brothers in Holland Township.
A probable cause affidavit reveals that 30-year-old Leticia Gonzales, who was driving the car, had misused a prescription drug hours before the crash.
"It's been a difficult case," Capt. Jake Sparks with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says.
The crash happened on Feb. 17, claiming the lives of four-year-old Jerome, three-year-old Jeremiah and one-year-old Josiah Gonzales. Police say Leticia was driving the car when it veered off the road, hit a curb, rolled and landed in a retention pond.
"Those deputies were heroic. They got there, there's still ice on that water. And they were jumping in that pond to try to rescue those children from the water," Capt. Sparks says.
The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says at the time, Gonzales was driving under the influence of a prescribed medication. Court documents reveal that a deputy, who is also a trained Drug Recognition Expert, evaluated Gonzales at the hospital shortly after the crash and said that her pupils were "notably constricted," her eyelids were droopy, and she had difficulty keeping her eyes open.
Because of those multiple signs of impairment, the deputy asked Gonzales about the use of drugs (specifically opioids or similar drugs). She initially denied taking any prescription drugs that could have caused her to be impaired, but later admitted to the deputy that she regularly takes Methadone.
She said she had taken her "normal" dose at 6:30 that morning, administered by a licensed facility as part of a treatment program. A sample of her blood was sent to the Michigan State Police, and analysis of the blood showed that the Methadone and EDDP was detected, but cannot be quantified as some other drugs can be.
That's why it took months of processing to determine it was in her system.
“With certain drugs, if it is not an illicit street drug, depending on the schedule that is assigned to that drug by State Law, it is not automatically illegal to drive with it in your system. With certain medications, depending on their classification, we have to be able to show visible impairment by a controlled substance, while the person is driving a vehicle,” Capt. Sparks says.
It is legal in Michigan to drive while taking methadone. When used as prescribed, it can treat an opioid use disorder, but like any substance, it can be abused.
"There will be a very, very careful review of all the evidence in this case to determine how much had she taken and how much actually was in her blood," Levine & Levine Attorney Kirsten Holz says.
Court documents say Gonzales had taken a prescribed dose of methadone at a clinic that morning.
A witness also admitted to giving her another dose that was not prescribed a few hours before the crash.
Holz says a court will have to prove impairment.
"This isn't going to rest solely on the fact that this mom was going to a methadone clinic or coming from a methadone clinic," she says. "They're going to need to prove that she was not driving safely. And that it was because of the amount of whatever drug was in her system."
If convicted, those facing an OWI causing death charge can face a maximum of 15 years in jail. Gonzales is currently at the Ottawa County Jail.
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