Teen pleads not guilty in recorded fatal crash

LOS BANOS, Calif.—A California teenager pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony charges of vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving after she lost control of her car while livestreaming on Instagram and recording a crash that killed her younger sister.

Obdulia Sanchez, 18, appeared via remote camera in Merced County Superior Court, dressed in yellow inmate garb. She pleaded not guilty to all six counts and responded a “little bit” when the judge asked whether she understood the charges against her.

Ramnik Samrao, a public defender who represents Sanchez, said the teen believes she killed her sister.

“Anybody can say very easily that she is responsible for the death. She believes that too. She said multiple times, ‘I killed my sister, I killed my sister,’” Samrao said outside court. “There’s no doubt about that, but whether there was a crime committed, that’s a separate story.”

The judge set bail at $560,000. Sanchez was driving the car on Friday when it veered onto the shoulder of a road about 75 miles northwest of Fresno.

Authorities said she overcorrected, causing the vehicle to swerve and overturn into a field, ejecting and killing her 14-year-old sister, Jacqueline Sanchez.

Prosecutors say the video, which includes images of her dancing to music while driving and taking her hands from the steering wheel, will be a key piece of evidence in the case.

In a statement, Merced County Chief Deputy District Attorney Harold Nutt said Sanchez’s blood alcohol content was 0.10. In California, .01 percent blood alcohol content is illegal for those under 21, said Jessica Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Department of Motor Vehicles.