Survivor of Fatal Livestream Crash Speaks Out, Mourns Girlfriend's Death
There is no part of this story that isn’t absolutely tragic.
Remember how an 18-year-old girl livestreamed herself appearing to lose control of her vehicle, resulting in the death of her own younger sister?
There was a third person in the car who wasn’t initially identified in reports.
That third person, a girl named Manuela Seja, survived with a leg injury and is now speaking about the death of her girlfriend, Jacqueline Sanchez.
Obdulia Sanchez is 18 years old, and was driving her younger sister, Jacqueline, and Jacqueline’s girlfriend, Manuela Seja, back home to Stockton, California.
Obdulia Sanchez’s statements in the alleged recording of the incident are already pretty famous.
"I f-ing killed my sister, okay. I know I’m going to jail for life alright. I understand that. This is the last thing I wanted to happen — okay. Alright, I don’t f—ing care though — I’m-a hold it down."
Understandably, she was and very likely is overwhelmed with feelings of grief and guilt.
(They may also end up being used against her in court)
Obdulia has been arrested on the suspicion that she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, as well as for the accident and death itself.
Police are investigating the vehicle and looking into the livestream video, which could potentially be used as evidence.
Precisely what caused Obdulia to lose control and ultimately for the vehicle to flip are unclear.
Initial reports suggested that Obdulia had struck a curb and overcorrected, losing control at such a high speed.
It is also possible that a tire blew out.
While she obviously should not have been livestreaming while driving, it’s important that we wait to condemn her until we find out exactly what was going on.
Jacqueline Sanchez and Manuela Seja met on Instagram and became friends.
Over time, their friendship became romantic, and Jacqueline and Manuela dated for seven months before Jacqueline’s death.
Manuela lives in Fresno and Jacqueline lived in Stockton. 130 miles is a long distance for a teenage relationship, but young love is powerful.
The girls had made a commitment to see each other every weekend.
Obdulia was helping her younger sister by driving the girls so that they’d be able to hang out and see each other.
This time, they didn’t make it — the tragic crash happened in Los Banos.
Manuela remembers Jacqueline, who was supposed to celebrate her quinceanera on Sunday.
She’ll treasure those memories for the rest of her life.
A huge part of how she describes Jacqueline is her sense of humor.
"She wasn’t like everybody else. She was just funny and she would be funny. She didn’t even need to try."
She has a box of treasured memories with her girlfriend — a gift that Jacqueline had made for her.
"I never thought this would happen."
No one does, but especially not a 14-year-old who has probably had very little experience with death.
Like Jacqueline father said in his own statement, Manuela doesn’t seem to be angry with Obdulia.
"Honestly, I’m not mad at anybody and I don’t blame anybody."
The fact that this girl who lost her girlfriend of seven months and was a witness isn’t blaming Obdulia makes us hope that investigators take a good, hard look at the evidence before they move things any further.
Obdulia’s excited utterance over her sister’s body is inflammatory, but not proof that it was genuinely her fault.
Manuela has some words of wisdom after the crash.
"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."
It’s not clear if she’s talking about people recording for social media when they should be driving, or if she just means people talking about blame via social media.
Either way, Manuela is right.
A teen streamed her own death on Facebook Live late last year.
Just weeks ago, a woman livestreamed her own horrific death in a car accident in which she was the passenger.
Whether technology plays a role in distracting drivers or not, streaming means that there can be dozens or millions of witnesses to someone’s death.
Sometimes without any warning whatsoever.
Very likely the only thing that will put an end to livestreamed vehicular deaths will be when autonomous cars dominate the roadways, making them much safer for everyone involved.
But until almost every car is driving itself, it looks like we’re going to see another decade or so of people recording their own deaths.
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