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Arrest warrant issued for Colorado woman accused of killing her daughter in DUI I-70 crash

The First Judicial District Attorney's Office issued an arrest warrant for 29-year-old Samantha Miranda Maestas related to the death of her 2-year-old in August 2018.

GOLDEN, Colo. — Charges were filed Wednesday against a woman accused of drunkenly crashing her car in August 2018 and killing her 2-year-old daughter who was in the backseat, according to the First Judicial District Attorney's Office.

Samantha Miranda Maestas, 29, is facing charges of DUI vehicular homicide, child abuse resulting in death, possession of a controlled substance, DUI, driving under restraint, a divided highway violation, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of careless driving resulting in injury, according to the DA.

On Aug. 10, 2018, Maestas was headed east on Interstate 70 just west of the Genesee exit as she approached heavy traffic, the DA said. She swerved to avoid a collision, over-corrected and then lost control of her car, according to the DA. Maestas then crossed the median into the westbound lanes and collided with a 2016 GMC Sierra.

An arrest warrant obtained by 9NEWS shows a photo on the pavement taken by a Colorado State Patrol trooper. That photo shows a green straw in a small plastic baggy. According to the report, Maestas admitted to officers on-scene that she'd been snorting methamphetamine out of the bag.

The crash happened around 3 p.m. as Maestas was driving a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am in the left lane, the arrest warrant says. When she overcorrected, the warrant says her passenger side collided with the front of the Sierra after rotating at least once. The Sierra rolled at least twice. 

Two-year-old Sophia Avila and Maestas' daughter was a passenger in the back seat of the car. She was pronounced dead on scene, according to the arrest warrant. Maestas' told officers at the site of the crash that she'd been using alcohol and snorting meth the night before. The arrest warrant says she also told troopers she'd taken Vicodin a few hours before the wreck.

In an interview after the wreck, Maestes reportedly told the investigating trooper that she was not high at the time of the wreck and had only had beers the night before but had stopped around 3 a.m., according to the arrest warrant.

A blood draw taken from Maestes showed 160ng per ml of methamphetamine in her blood, as well as 40ng/ml of amphetamine in her blood as well, the arrest warrant says. She told the investigating officer she took the Vicodin for her back and that while she was not "high" her back "no longer hurt," according to the report.

Maestes pleaded guilty to reckless driving charges in 2009, with charges of driving without a driver's license and leaving the scene of an accident dismissed, according to a Colorado Bureau of Investigation report.

The arrest warrant also says that at the time of the crash, Maestas had been going 74 mph in a 65 mph zone while approaching very heavy traffic. 

The driver of the Sierra suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

Maestas' arrest warrant shows her bond is set at $15,000.

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