Apr. 21—A Fountain woman was taken into custody Friday after pleading guilty to three charges in the death of her 4-year-old daughter, Acelynn Staton-Contreras, who fatally overdosed on fentanyl in July.

Emma Staton, 25, appeared in court out of custody and pleaded guilty to the charge of child abuse knowingly or recklessly causing death, a second-degree felony, and two drug possession charges.

"I had the fentanyl pills in my possession or in the vicinity of where my child was, and that was wrong," Staton said when asked to explain her plea to the court.

Staton was originally expected to enter a plea on March 8, but both the prosecution and defense requested a continuance to allow for more time to negotiate a plea deal. If a deal had not been reached by Friday, Staton would have been required to plead not guilty and stand trial, according to previous reporting by The Gazette.

However, instead of entering into a plea agreement — in which case penalties are agreed upon in advance — with the prosecution, Staton opted to plead open, letting the decision of penalties fall on Judge Chad Miller at a future sentencing hearing.

According to Miller, Staton could face between 16 and 48 years in the Department of Corrections for the child abuse charge, and by pleading open, she risks facing more than the 30- to 40-year range proposed by the prosecution. Alternatively, Miller could opt for a shorter sentence.

Staton's case was bound over for trial by Miller at a preliminary hearing in October after the prosecution presented testimony showing that there was sufficient evidence to continue pursuing charges against Staton.

Two detectives with the Fountain Police Department testified during the preliminary hearing that Staton knew her daughter had ingested the drug the evening of July 12, but didn't take her to the hospital for three hours, instead administering two doses of Narcan.

Staton called 911 before quickly hanging up, according to one of the detectives. Deputies from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office 20 minutes later arrived at her home to investigate the call, and Staton told them everything was OK.

An hour later, Staton and a friend attempted to drive Acelynn to the hospital, but her condition "worsened significantly" and the pair pulled over and called 911, according to one of the detectives.

Acelynn was pronounced dead at a gas station in Fountain after life-saving measures were attempted by police at the scene.

A follow-up investigation found upward of 40 fentanyl pills and methamphetamines in the car of Staton, the detective testified.

Staton's sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 3, when Miller will announce Staton's penalties as well as allow parties with both the defense and prosecution to address the court. Miller told family members present at Friday's hearing that they will only be allowed to address him, given outbursts at previous hearings.

"I understand this is a highly emotional case on both sides ... neither side will be addressing parties on the other side of the courtroom," Miller said.