Panchikal appeal on 30-day sentence denied
In April Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft sentenced Sterling Panchikal to 30 days in jail for reckless homicide in the 2015 death of 47-year-old Alejandra Sanchez-Ponce.
On Friday Panchikal asked Craft to overturn his sentence, which would allow her to be placed on diversion, a process that could allow her five felony charges go away.
Craft denied that request and would not reinstate her driver’s license, but did delay her jail time until the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals makes a decision in the case.
Meanwhile the family of Sanchez-Ponce, already upset by the short sentence, is outraged once again.
Sanchez-Ponce was the mother of 13 and her youngest was five at the time of her death.
“We can’t do nothing,” said Paola Bermudez, the victim’s daughter-in-law.
“This person killed someone and is free and can do whatever she wants. And she has the right to appeal the 30 days. That’s nothing compared to what she did.”
Panchikal, now 20, had just turned 17 when the car she was driving crossed the median on Bill Morris Parkway, killing Sanchez-Ponce, injuring her daughter and three people in another vehicle.
She pleaded guilty to one count of reckless homicide and four counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to two years in jail, with that jail time suspended to 30 days behind bars and six years of probation.
Her driver’s license was revoked for three years, she will be drug tested, must stay on her mental health medication and perform community service.
Panchikal was enrolled in community college so Craft pushed back her date to report to jail until June, after the semester had ended.
“She was texting her friend about getting high on marijuana when she ran off the road,” Craft said in April. “She left the road, went through the median, broke through the cables, went on the other side and never hit her brakes.”
However, Panchikal, from Collierville, was also a minor, with no criminal record, mental health issues and family problems.
Craft said the sentence was to insure that she would always have a felony record.
“She had said she wanted to work with children. One thing I said is if she’s working around children, she needs her boss to know she killed someone while on drugs,” he said.
But, Panchikal also has a right to appeal her sentence.
The appeals court will set oral arguments in about a month and “they’ll decide whenever the three of them decide,” on the appeal itself, Craft said.
“I don’t see any sense in making her do the 30 days if the appeals court overturns the sentence and gives her diversion,” he said.
On May 2, 2015, Panchikal’s 17th birthday, she drove her 2004 Lexus RX-330 across the state highway median, through a cable barrier into oncoming traffic. Sanchez-Ponce, was driving from her job as a hotel housekeeper with her daughter, who was critically injured.
Panchikal hit another vehicle carrying a mother and two children who suffered non-critical injuries. A third vehicle was struck by debris from the crash.
Investigators found vodka, marijuana and drug paraphernalia in her car.
She was originally charged as a juvenile, but the case was later sent to adult court.