Mother Now Charged in Case Where Father Allegedly Saved Their 3 Children from Drowning

Texas – Mother Now Charged in Case Where Father Allegedly Saved Their 3 Children from Drowning

The Liberty County case involving Domingo and Jessica Quintana has taken another turn.
Authorities now confirm Jessica Quintana, 39, has been formally charged after allegedly drugging and attempting to drown the couple’s three children last month.

According to investigators, Jessica is facing two counts of injury to a child causing bodily injury and one count of assault causing bodily injury.
She was taken into custody Friday morning shortly after being released from the hospital.

Back on September 29, deputies responded to a 6 a.m. 911 call from Domingo Quintana, who told dispatchers his wife had “poisoned the children with NyQuil and tried to drown them” in the pond on their 300-acre property, Rancho Monte Carmelo near Dayton, Texas.

When officers arrived, they found all three children wet but alive — and Jessica still in the water. Domingo had pulled the kids from the pond himself.
Investigators later said the children, ages 15, 11, and 6, had reportedly been given vodka mixed with NyQuil before the incident.

All three were hospitalized; the 11-year-old had to be life-flighted but survived.
The children have since been placed in Child Protective Services custody while the case unfolds.

Meanwhile, Domingo Quintana — who first appeared to be the rescuer — has also been in court on animal-cruelty charges after an emaciated cat was found on the family’s property. He pled not guilty and was denied a court-appointed attorney after the judge ruled he had sufficient assets.

The situation around this family keeps growing more complicated:
• A Liberty County lieutenant has been suspended and is under Texas Rangers investigation for visiting Domingo in jail.
• The children’s mother has been granted supervised visitation, while the father has been denied any contact with them. Edit to add: the children WANT to see their mom and had negative feelings toward their father.
• Public records show the Quintanas owe over $300,000 in taxes, debts, and judgments.

Now, with Jessica formally charged, both parents remain under scrutiny — one accused of nearly killing her children, the other fighting his own legal and financial battles.

What do you think? Should prosecutors upgrade these charges to attempted murder?