Obdulia Sanchez, the teen who live-streamed the car crash that killed her 14-year-old sister, was sentenced to six years and four months in prison on Thursday. Sanchez had previously pleaded no contest to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI and child endangerment.
Sanchez, 18, appeared in court on Thursday for sentencing, where she expressed regret for her actions,the Merced Sun-Star reported.
“I feel like such an idiot,” Sanchez read from a prepared statement. “Why did God choose me to be the older sister. I can’t even do my job right.”
The incident took place in July 2017, and the video instantly went viral. Police sad Sanchez was driving 120 miles per hour at the time of the crash. A blood test administered 90 minutes later showed that her blood-alcohol content was .106, well above the legal limit of .08.
Sanchez was criticized not just for her actions, but for continuing to record the aftermath of the accident, when she recognized that her sister was dying. She later explained, she did it to draw sympathy and raise money for the funeral.
“I made that video because I knew I had more than 5,000 followers. It was the only way my sister would get a decent burial,” Sanchez wrote in a letter to local KGPE in August. “I would never expose my sister like that. I anticipated the public donating money because my family isn’t rich.”
Another passenger, a 15-year-old girl, was injured in the crash, but survived.
Prosecutors sought the maximum sentence for Sanchez, which is 12 years in prison. They claimed that besides alcohol, her blood tested positive for marijuana and cocaine.
Sanchez’s defense hoped for probation instead of any jail time.
Judge Ronald Hansen felt that both positions were extreme, and opted for a sentence that was somewhere in the middle.
Between time that Sanchez has already served, if she exhibits good behavior she could be released as early as September 2020.
[Image via Merced County Sheriff’s Office]
