Crash killed passenger taking Snapchat from sunroof, CA officials say. Driver sentenced
A passenger in a vehicle died in a car crash while filming a Snapchat video, and now the woman driving is going to jail, according to prosecutors in California.
Lindsey Shaver, 21, who pleaded guilty to “gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated,” was given a 90-day jail sentence, the Ventura County District Attorney’s office said in a Feb. 23 news release.
“Shaver’s decision to use marijuana and drive while impaired tragically took the life of her best friend,” prosecutor George Brietigam said in the release.
At the time of the crash on March 18, 2021, Shaver’s passenger, Laney Zambri, was “filming a Snapchat video while standing through the sunroof” on Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura, prosecutors said.
Shaver lost control, and the car flipped, the district attorney’s office said. Zambri was critically injured and died days later.
Zambri was 17 years old when she died and was three months away from graduating high school, according to a foundation created in her memory.
“Laney was a kind, empathetic person who always had a big, beautiful smile,” the Laney Zambri Foundation’s website says. “She was looking forward to a new chapter in her life, college.”
She hoped to one day be a nurse, according to the foundation.
In addition to jail time, Shaver is also “required to speak at local high schools regarding the dangers of impaired and distracted driving,” prosecutors said.
Brietigam said the hope is that students will be deterred from driving under the influence “after hearing about the tragic circumstances of this case.”
Ventura is about 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
This story was originally published February 24, 2023 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Crash killed passenger taking Snapchat from sunroof, CA officials say. Driver sentenced."
