BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The trial of two men accused of causing a vehicle crash that killed two sisters and badly injured a third has been postponed again.
Tevin Brandt and Gustavo Montoya, previously set for trial later this month, now have an Aug. 31 trial date, according to court records.
There have been multiple postponements in the three years since the crash occurred. Brandt is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and Montoya is facing two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. Both also face other charges.
Early on March 4, 2023, Brandt, who had been out bar-hopping the night before, noticed his cellphone was missing and used an app to track it. Montoya, an Uber driver who had given him a ride earlier, joined in the search.
The two drove separately to an area where the app indicated Brandt’s phone was located and saw a vehicle occupied by three sisters — Karime and Jennifer Duarte and Diana Ponce. They were delivering newspapers.
Believing the sisters had Brandt’s phone, the men confronted and chased them, according to court documents.
The sisters, in an attempt to get away, sped to the end of McKee Road, where their vehicle “launched onto Highway 99” and was hit by a pickup and burst into flames, according to the documents.
Karime Duarte, 21, and Jennifer Duarte, 15, were killed. Ponce, then 23, suffered serious injuries but survived.
Brandt’s phone was later found in another rideshare vehicle. It was parked at the location where he first confronted the sisters.
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