Teen pleads not guilty in fatal crash recorded on Instagram
LOS BANOS, Calif. — A California teenager pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony charges of vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving after she lost control of her car while livestreaming on Instagram and recording a crash that killed her younger sister.
Obdulia Sanchez, 18, appeared via remote camera in Merced County Superior Court, dressed in yellow inmate garb. She pleaded not guilty to all six counts and responded a “little bit” when the judge asked whether she understood the charges against her.
Ramnik Samrao, a public defender who represents Sanchez, said the teen believes she killed her sister.
“Anybody can say very easily that she is responsible for the death. She believes that too. She said multiple times, ‘I killed my sister, I killed my sister,’” Samrao said outside court. “There’s no doubt about that, but whether there was a crime committed, that’s a separate story.”