Charges added, bail reduced for driver of fatal live-streamed Merced County crash
Obdulia Sanchez pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, DUI and child endangerment charges Wednesday morning in connection to a livestreamed vehicle crash that killed her sister, according to court documents.
Prosecutors added two counts of child endangerment charges to their complaint Wednesday, records indicate.
Sanchez had another chance to enter a plea during an arraignment Wednesday after she was ordered to stand trial. The case will now go to trial.
Sanchez was driving her 15-year-old sister, Jacqueline Sanchez, and sister's girlfriend, 14-year-old Manuela Seja, from Fresno to StocktonJuly 21 on Henry Miller Road north of Los Banos when the car veered off the roadway, overturning and killing her sister, police said. Manuela suffered a laceration to her leg, and Sanchez didn't suffer major injuries, according to reports.
Sanchez streamed video before, during and after the crash on Instagram. The social media video went viral because of it's graphic nature and that it showed Sanchez sitting above her sister, shaking her and claiming she killed her.
Sanchez's bail was lowered Wednesday from $560,000 to $470,000 due to the Merced County District Attorney's Office dropping great bodily injury enhancements on Sanchez's charges, according to court documents. Those charges were reduced because Seja didn't suffer major injuries as previously reported.
Sanchez's attorney, Ramnik Samrao, had been asking for the court to lower bail throughout the preliminary hearings.
"We're happy to see some movement on the bail issue," Samrao said, adding that he was seeking a $320,000 amount that would fit with her charges and situation.
The amount Samrao was seeking may have been low enough for Sanchez's family and friends to post bail, he said.
But Samrao said the court gave the defense an opportunity to ask for a lower bail amount from the trial judge, which he plans on doing Tuesday.
A trial setting conference was scheduled for Oct. 10 in Merced.
This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Charges added, bail reduced for driver of fatal live-streamed Merced County crash."