Mom who crashed into Aurora pond, left child in car considers plea deal
A Cicero woman accused of driving drunk when she crashed her SUV into an Aurora pond and left her 6-year-old son in the submerged vehicle is considering an offer from prosecutors.
Gladys X. Ruvira-Garcia, 32, of the 5600 block of West 22nd Place, is charged with four counts of aggravated DUI and faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty.
The deal offered Wednesday, which Ruvira-Garcia is considering, includes her serving at least five years in prison in addition to other conditions.
Ruvira-Garcia has been free on $150,000 bail since last November when Judge Liam Brennan lowered her bail from $500,000.
Prosecutors allege Ruvira-Garcia was returning home from a party in Aurora around 2 a.m. Oct. 15, 2017, along with her son, her 12- and 15-year-old daughters, and her 21-year-old sister when she lost control of her 2007 Nissan Xterra near Diehl Road and I-88 and plunged into a pond.
Ruvira-Garcia, her daughters and her sister escaped the sinking vehicle, but the boy was left behind, officials said.
Divers from an Aurora Fire Department water rescue team found the SUV and the boy in about 15 feet of water roughly 80 feet from shore. Authorities say they think the boy was in the water for at least 30 minutes.
The boy was taken to an Aurora hospital and then moved to a Chicago hospital where he spent several weeks on a ventilator. An updated condition on the boy's health was not immediately available Wednesday.
Ruvira-Garcia was arrested at the crash site. Prosecutors said she had a blood alcohol content of more than 0.14 percent, almost twice the legal limit to drive.
Ruvira-Garcia, despite being free on bail, has an immigration detainer placed on her by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE officials said Ruvira-Garcia overstayed a temporary visitor's visa after entering the United States in May 2015.
ICE officials said they place detainers when the agency has probable cause to believe a person is deportable.
While on bail, she has been ordered to wear an alcohol-detecting anklet in addition to a GPS device. She also is prohibited from driving because she has no license or insurance.
Her next court date is scheduled for Nov. 27, at which time prosecutors and her attorney will have a conference to discuss the state's full offer and whether she will accept it or enter a blind plea in which Brennan would hand down a sentence after a hearing.