Woman pleads not guilty in crash

18-year-old driver who livestreamed accident that left sister dead faces felony charges.

A California woman accused of driving drunk as she livestreamed a crash that killed her younger sister pleaded not guilty Wednesday to half a dozen felony criminal offenses, including gross vehicular manslaughter.

Along with a felony charge of manslaughter while intoxicated, Obdulia Sanchez, 18, also faces a count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, according to the Merced County district attorney’s office.

She is also charged with two counts of driving under the influence resulting in injury and two additional counts of driving with a 0.08% blood alcohol content causing injury, the district attorney’s office said.

“The behavior demonstrated both prior to and after the incident, as documented by the defendant’s own recording, is disturbing and shocking,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Harold Nutt said in a statement. “The Merced County district attorney’s office will do everything in its power to see that justice is done in this matter.”

Sanchez appeared on video for her arraignment. Speaking on Sanchez’s behalf, her public defender, Ramnik Samrao, pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Outside the courtroom, Samrao told reporters Sanchez “feels absolutely terrible.”

He said that although Sanchez admitted to killing her sister in the live video, it is unclear whether a crime was committed.

“We don’t know that she was drunk, that’s the allegation,” he said.

After the hearing, Nutt said Sanchez, whose blood alcohol content was 0.10%, was not paying attention while driving. She was driving erratically and not holding the wheel, he said.

Nutt said the video “reflects some depravity and some stupidity.”

If Sanchez is convicted, she faces as much as 13 years and eight months in prison, according to the district attorney’s office. She is being held in lieu of $560,000 bail.

The case received international attention after she recorded the moments before and after the crash Friday on Instagram Live.

The Stockton resident recorded herself behind the wheel of a 2003 Buick as her 14-year-old sister, Jacqueline Sanchez, and another 14year-old girl sat in the back seat.

The alarming video shows Sanchez losing control of her vehicle and crashing.

Moments later, she shows the body of her sister and says: “I ... killed my sister, OK. I know I am going to jail for life, all right? This is the last thing that I wanted to happen, OK?”

The California Highway Patrol said Sanchez was driving north of Los Banos when she swerved off the road and overcorrected, veering across the road and crashing into a wire fence, her car rolling into a field.

The two girls in the rear seat, who were not wearing seat belts, were ejected from the vehicle, the CHP said.

Sanchez, who was arrested after the crash, had previously been convicted of reckless driving, said Jessica Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. The offense occurred in 2013 when Sanchez was 14 and driving without a license, Gonzalez said. The conviction resulted in two “negligent operator” points on her driving record, she said.

Sanchez was driving with a valid California license at the time of the fatal crash.

Manuela Seja, the surviving passenger, suffered major trauma to her right leg, authorities said.