Teenager who filmed car crash that killed sister regrets incident

It makes me really sad that she's gone, says Sanchez

The eighteen-year-old who livestreamed the car crash which killed her sister, spoke out about the incident. Obdulia Sanchez said she regretted the happening and realised that she “looked like a monster”.

Sanchez was filming herself while driving, with her sister Jacqueline Sanchez and friend Manuela Seja in the backseat. She was allegedly intoxicated and lost control of the car which swerved off the road, according to authorities.



Sanchez confessed that this was not the first time she had livestreamed while driving, and "people take videos of them(selves) in the cars all the time".

"We do it all the time - all the time. Trust me it's like a reflex," she said.

Due to the impact of the crash, her 14-year-old sister was hurled from the vehicle and died. Her friend, Manuela Seja was also thrown from the car, but survived the accident.

Speaking about the incident, which occurred 75 miles (120.7 kilometres) north west of Fresno, California, Obdulia Sanchez said that if she had "known that was going to happen that day, I would've never left the house".

The teenager, while giving a phone interview from prison, told Eyewitness News: “I didn't even know I looked like a monster – like I look like a freaking horrible monster. That was not my intention at all."

She explained how the girls in the car "were perfectly freaking fine" when "the next thing I know, we started going left, then I started to stop the car. Then we flipped over."

Manuela Seja, who suffered from a leg injury, had initially blamed social media for the accident.

"It's all affected by social media. That's what life is now. And it's going to advance more and more. That what it's going to be about," she said.

After the vehicle crashed, Sanchez "started freaking out" when she noticed that the two girls were missing from the backseat. She realised her sister had died as she had no pulse.

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Sanchez continued filming after calling the emergency services. In the video, she can be seen standing over her sister’s body and apologising, saying that this was the last thing she wanted to happen.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the teenagers sitting at the back of the vehicle were not wearing seatbelts.

The 18-year-old said she had also received a call from her younger sister relaying their father’s message, who was concerned about the girls’ whereabouts and asking them to return within an hour.

"And I just started balling - crying. Like I didn't know what to tell my dad," Sanchez said.

Remembering her sister she said, "She's like my mini-me - like my best friend. Any time I look at her, it's like I'm looking at myself. It makes me really sad that she's gone."

Sanchez, who remains in prison, was detained on suspicion of drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter. A preliminary hearing for a trial is due on September 13. The teenager has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

This story originally appeared on The Independent.