Parents reeling after live streamed crash leaves one daughter dead and other in jail
MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- The parents of the suspect and victim of a deadly crash near Los Banos streamed live on Instagram are talking about the tragedy, and they say it's ruined their lives.
One of their daughters is now charged with killing the other, and 18-year-old Obdulia Sanchez remains in the Merced County Jail facing several criminal charges including DUI.
"It's an accident," Obdulia's father Nicandro Sanchez said. "It happened that way. Who knows why?"
Nicandro and Gloria Sanchez are numb and don't know what to feel. They watched the live stream video of the crash and aftermath, and they have no explanation for how it happened. They believe their daughter Obdulia, also known as Lula, needs help.
"I think she doesn't know what happened," Nicandro said. "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."
Officers already have a lot of valuable evidence from the suspect's video. They know Lula was the only one wearing a seatbelt during the deadly crash.
Jacquelin and 14-year-old Manuela Seja were ejected through the back window. Manuela survived, and Lula live streamed the horrifying moments before and after the crash - shocking and disturbing thousands who watched the now viral video.
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Right now, officers aren't sure if Lula did anything else to actually try to save her little sister after the crash.
"Did she ever call 911?" an Action News reporter asked the California Highway Patrol.
"We are still looking into that," the officer replied.
Department of Alcohol Beverage Control investigators were already picking up preliminary crash information Monday. They want to track down where Obdulia may have purchased or had someone buy her alcohol.
Her parents say she does drink but not around them. They don't know what she may have done or used before the deadly crash.
"Why or how she got something to drink?" Nicandro said. "If she drinks."
Investigators rarely get insight like they have in this case, and they too are in disbelief.
"The video is very disturbing, both to us as people who do this for a living," a CHP officer said. "It's very disturbing to us because of the callous nature of her actions, both leading up to this tragedy and in the immediate aftermath."
Instead of celebrating Jacquelin's confirmation Saturday at their church, the Sanchez family is planning a funeral. They say Jaquelin wanted to be an actress or singer and was going into the 10th grade."
