A Durango mother was charged Tuesday with felony-level crimes in a head-on crash that killed her daughter earlier this year in southwest La Plata County.
Neysha Candelaria, 33, had previously been charged with careless driving causing death, a traffic offense. But prosecutors amended the charges to include felony child abuse, child abuse resulting in death, three counts of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, careless driving and failing to have proper child restraints.
None of the five children inside the minivan wore seat belts, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Because of the felony charges, her case was moved to District Court.
The most serious charge, child abuse resulting in death, holds a 4- to 16-year prison sentence, and $3,000 to $750,000 in fines. The other charges of child abuse also hold jail time and additional fines. Assistant District Attorney Christian Champagne said because the incident involved multiple victims, it would be up to District Judge Jeffrey Wilson whether to impose concurrent (serving all sentences at the same time) or consecutive (when jail time for multiple offenses are added up) sentences if she is convicted of the charges.
As La Plata County Judge Martha Minot read Candelaria the new charges in court on Tuesday, Candelaria nodded her head when asked by Minot if she understood the terms of the case.
“We received additional evidence that we feel justifies felony-level charges,” Champagne previously told The Durango Herald.
The crash occurred shortly before 8:30 a.m. April 18 on La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140), 1.6 miles north of the Colorado-New Mexico border.
Candelaria may have hit snow and ice when she lost control of her 2005 Chevrolet Uplander, crossed the center line and slammed head-on into a 2009 Kia Sorento, according to the State Patrol.
She had five children on-board, ages 1, 5, 7, 8 and 9. At least three children were thrown from the vehicle, and 8-year-old Mia Martinez was pronounced dead at the scene.
Candelaria’s next court appearance is at 9 a.m. Nov. 17 before District Judge Jeffrey Wilson.
Herald staff writer Jonathan Romeo contributed to this report.