Candice Anderson cleared of fiancé's death due to General Motors car failure

A Texas woman charged in her fiancé's death has been cleared after General Motors admitted its car may have been to blame.

"The emotional guilt -- all these years. You know, it's been a question if I was at fault for his death, and I've carried it for so long," Candice Anderson told CBS.

Ten years ago, Candice Anderson lost control of her 2004 Saturn Ion and hit a tree. The air bags never deployed, and her fiance riding in the passenger seat was killed.

Because she had trace amounts of Xanax is her system, she was charged with intoxicated vehicular manslaughter. She pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of negligent homicide and spent the last decade thinking she was responsible for her fiancé's death.

What she didn't know at the time was that the Saturn Ion she was driving would eventually be one of the 2.6 million cars GM would recall for ignition switch problems.

Those ignition issues have now been linked to at least 35 deaths -- Anderson's fiancé among them.

On Monday, a judge in Texas has tossed out Anderson's homicide conviction after GM admitted the faulty switch "may have caused or contributed to" the accident.

That marked the first time GM publicly weighed in on the case. Until now, the company -- including CEO Mary Barra -- had refused to comment.

"I don't think it's appropriate for General Motors as a company to step in," Barra said in a CNN interview.

This is just the latest PR nightmare for the automaker, which is currently facing a string of lawsuits over its faulty ignition switches and other defects.

GM has hired the same attorney who doled out compensation funds for the Sept. 11 attacks to review and pay claims linked to the switch.

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