FARGO - A mother accused of threatening to kill her three young children and herself in May told a judge Tuesday in Cass County District Court she is living in a substance abuse treatment facility.
Virginia Mara Adams faces three felony charges of child abuse in connection with a May 9 incident in which she allegedly told police she was planning to poison her children ages 6, 4 and 3 with a running car in a closed garage.
Police allege in court records she was found in her garage with her kids in a vehicle with the door closed, the keys in the ignition, but the engine off.
Her boyfriend alerted the police after Adams allegedly texted him to indicate her plans, saying she "will go to hell and they will go to heaven."
Adams, who is either 24 or 25 years old, gave Judge Wade Webb a letter saying she was enrolled in Fargo's Robinson Recovery Center, a 40-bed treatment facility for substance abuse.
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Webb set bail at $5,000, half of what a prosecutor had requested. Adams, who was not represented by an attorney at her first court appearance, had asked to be released without bail.
Webb ordered Adams to not have contact with her children and to follow the recommendations made by social workers and treatment providers.
Her next court date was set for Aug. 11.
