Sister Arrested In Deadly Crash Posted On Instagram
MERCED, Calif. (CBS SF & AP) — An 18-year-old woman has been arrested in Central California on suspicion of causing a deadly crash that was recorded live on Instagram.
Obdulia Sanchez was booked into the Merced County Jail on suspicion of DUI and vehicular manslaughter after Friday's crash north of Los Banos that killed her 14-year-old sister and badly injured another 14-year-old girl.
The California Highway Patrol said Sanchez was driving a Buick Century when it veered onto the right shoulder of a road. She over-corrected the turn, which caused the vehicle to swerve across lanes, crash through a wire fence and overturn into a field.
Relatives confirmed to KFSN-TV that Sanchez filmed a video before, during and after the crash that was posted on Instagram.
"I killed my sister, but I don't care," Obdulia said on Instagran. "I killed my sister. I know I'm going to prison, but I don't care. I'm sorry baby. I'm a hold it down."
The Instagram post ends with her kneeling next to her dead sister. A recording of the livestream shows Obdulia shaking the girl after the crash and saying she was sorry.
"Wake up baby, I'm f**king sorry baby," she says. "I did not mean to kill you sweetie."
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke identified the dead girl Monday as 14-year-old Jacqueline Sanchez of Stockton. Authorities say she was ejected Friday from the car that flipped over after veering off a San Joaquin Valley road.
The livestream was recorded on Instagram and posted on Facebook by someone who had seen it. 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
Obdulia was being held on vehicular manslaughter while under the influence and DUI charges in the Merced County Jail and expected to make her first court appearance Wednesday.
