Teenage driver livestreams part of crash that killed sister
FRESNO — A teenage driver lost control of her car while she was livestreaming on Instagram and recorded part of the crash that authorities said Monday killed her younger sister in California.
After a gap in the livestream, the driver is seen leaning over the body of the girl, trying to shake her awake and saying she was sorry. She said she expected to spend the rest of her life in prison but doesn’t care.
“This is the last thing I wanted to happen, OK? ... Rest in peace, sweetie,” the teen says. “If you don’t survive, I’m so (expletive) sorry.”
Authorities say Obdulia Sanchez, 18, was driving the car Friday when it veered onto the shoulder of a road about 75 miles northwest of Fresno.
She overcorrected, causing the vehicle to swerve and overturn into a field, ejecting her sister, the California Highway Patrol said.
Jacqueline Sanchez, 14, of Stockton died in the crash, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said.
Another girl, also 14, was in the backseat and survived with a leg injury. The driver was wearing a seatbelt but not the two girls, the CHP said.
Obdulia Sanchez was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter and remained in jail with bail set at $300,000.
The livestream was recorded on Instagram and posted on Facebook. Stockton resident Mary Hernandez said she saw the video there and reposted it.
“People need to know these things can happen,” Hernandez said, adding that she had gotten a range of responses from anger to gratitude.
“I mean no disrespect to their family for posting it,” she said. Hernandez said she knew about Obdulia Sanchez through social media but they never met in person.
Rob Carroll, a chief deputy in the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, said he had not yet seen the video but expects it will be a key piece of evidence.
“Drinking driving and driving erratically — obviously those are poor choices,” Carroll said.
Relatives have set up a Gofundme page to pay for the funeral of Jacqueline Sanchez. The page says she was planning to celebrate her 15th birthday — known as a quincenera — on Sunday.
Neither Obdulia Sanchez nor an attorney representing her could be reached for comment
She is expected to make her first court appearance Wednesday.