LOS ANGELES — A California teen accused of driving drunk as she livestreamed a crash that killed her younger sister was charged Wednesday with a half-dozen felony criminal offenses, including gross vehicular manslaughter, prosecutors said.
Along with a felony manslaughter while intoxicated charge, Obdulia Sanchez, 18, is facing another 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 percent 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 District Attorney 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.”
If Sanchez is convicted, she faces up to 13 years and eight months in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.
The case received international attention after she recorded the moments before and after the crash on Instagram Live on Friday.
The Stockton resident filmed herself behind the wheel of a 2003 Buick as her 14-year-old sister, Jacqueline Sanchez, and a second 14-year-old girl sat in the back seat.
The alarming video showed when Sanchez lost control of her vehicle and crashed.
Moments later, she showed the body of her sister and says: “I … killed my sister, OK. I know I am going to jail for life, all right?” Sanchez said. “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 her turn. She then veered across the road and crashed into a wire fence and her car rolled 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, was previously 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.