18-Year-Old Arrested After Live-Streaming Crash That Killed Her Sister

A family in California is grieving and struggling to find answers after an unimaginable car accident took the life of one of their daughters, and forever changed the course of life for another. Obdulia Sanchez, an 18-year old from Merced County in Northern California, was driving a car her sister and another friend were riding in when she lost control and rolled the car over a fence and into a nearby field.

The sister, identified as 14-year old Jacqueline Sanchez, was in the back of the car and was not wearing a seat belt. She was thrown from the car in the crash. The other passenger, another teen girl who has not been identified, was also not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car. Jacqueline was pronounced dead shortly after the crash, while the second passenger suffered major leg trauma but is expected to survive. Obdulia Sanchez started live-streaming shortly before the accident, capturing the terrifying moments on her phone. Inexplicably, she continued to film the gruesome aftermath, posting video of her deceased sister lying in the field live on Instagram.

mugshot of girl in red shirt
Image: Merced County Sheriff

Obdulia Sanchez has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and gross vehicular manslaughter in connection with the crash. The video, which was removed by Instagram but was recorded and shared on other social media channels, shows Obdulia driving and then losing control of the car. Shortly after filming stopped, it resumed again, this time showing her sister lying in a field with obvious head trauma. (We aren’t linking to the video, as it’s incredibly graphic and disturbing.) Obdulia Sanchez can be heard on the video, growing increasingly hysterical and erratic.

”Hey, everybody, if I go to fucking jail for life, you already know why,” she said.

Obdulia then moves the camera to show her sister Jacqueline lying motionless and bleeding. Screaming can be heard in the background of the video as Obdulia continues to focus on her sister.

”My sister is fucking dying. Look, I fucking love my sister to death. I don’t give a fuck. Man, we about to die. This is the last thing I wanted to happen to us, but it just did. Jacqueline, please wake up.”

The video was streamed live on Instagram, and has since been taken down. But it had already been recorded and shared on Facebook. May Hernandez, who knows Sanchez through friends, tells Buzzfeed she heard about the video, and recorded it before it disappeared after 24 hours. She says that the video remained on Instagram for 19 hours before it was removed.

The girls’ parents, Nicandro and Gloria Sanchez, have seen the video. Nicandro calls it an accident, and tells ABC affiliate KFSN, ”What I think is she knows she’s done something wrong. Because she knows, and that’s what I feel. She feels bad for herself, but she killed her own sister.”

Obdulia Sanchez was booked into Merced County Jail, and it’s unclear if she’s posted bail or has been released. A Go Fund Me has been set up to help cover the costs of Jacqueline’s funeral. According to the Go Fund Me, Jacqueline was set to celebrate her quinceañera this weekend. Teenagers can do incredibly stupid and dangerous things, with unimaginably tragic consequences. Our thoughts are with her family and friends as they try to make sense of such a senseless, preventable tragedy.

(Image: Go Fund Me/  Jacqueline Sanchez Estrada Funeral)

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