The day Justin Sanchez was hired by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, he was given a coin from his mother that he keeps with him every day.
The challenge coin handed out by some law enforcement agencies was given to her by Orange County Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman at the conclusion of a murder trial in which the man who killed Sanchez’s grandmother in a drunk-driving crash on Ortega Highway was convicted.
On Tuesday, March 31, Sanchez told his story at the 2026 Orange County Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony, held by the District Attorney’s Office in Santa Ana — eight years to the day after the crash.
“It serves as a reminder,” said Sanchez, who now handles DUI cases.
Anatoly Varfolomeev shows a photo of the remains of the car his daughter Anya Varfolomeev was in when she was killed. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People look at portraits of crime victims during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tony Moran pauses at a photo of his son, Tony Moran, Jr. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Libby Hoy, wife of Steve Hoy, who was one of three bicyclists hit by a driver accused of driving under the influence of drugs on Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach last year, speaks during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony. Steve Hoy was hurt, and a friend killed. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Portraits of crime victims. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Orange County Deputy District Attorney Justin Sanchez speaks during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. Sanchez was inspired to become a prosecutor after his grandmother was killed, and his grandfather injured by a drunk driver.
The annual event is held at the Orange County Crime Victims Monument at the Orange County District Attorney’s office. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony took place in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. The annual event is held at the Orange County Crime Victims Monument at the Orange County District Attorney’s office. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The back of the program for the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony shows a victim impact statement in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. It was written by 8-year-old Gianna about the loss of her 5-year-old brother Jacob, who was killed by a drunk driver while on a family bike ride.
The annual event is held at the Orange County Crime Victims Monument at the OCDA’s office. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People listen as the National Anthem is played during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. The annual event is held at the Orange County Crime Victims Monument at the Orange County District Attorney’s office. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer speaks during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. The annual event is held at the Orange County Crime Victims Monument at the OCDA’s office. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Anatoly Varfolomeev pauses while speaking about his daughter Anya Varfolomeev during the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. Anya Varfolomeev, 19, along with her friend, was killed by a drunk, high, and speeding driver on the 405 freeway. The driver served less than 3 1/2 years of a ten-year sentence, according to the OCDA’s office.
The annual event is held at the Orange County Crime Victims Monument at the Orange County District Attorney’s office. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Portraits of crime victims line the perimeter at the Crime Victims’ Rights Ceremony in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. The annual event is held at the Orange County Crime Victims Monument at the Orange County District Attorney’s office. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Anatoly Varfolomeev shows a photo of the remains of the car his daughter Anya Varfolomeev was in when she was killed. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
This year the annual event focused on victims of fatal DUI crashes.
The speakers included District Attorney Todd Spitzer, lawmakers and relatives of other victims of DUI crashes.
Nearly all of the speakers urged lawmakers to pass laws with tougher penalties for those who drive under the influence, including Anatoly Varfolomeev, the father of Anya Varfolomeev, who along with another 19-year-old, Nikolay Osokin, was killed in a fiery crash on the 405 Freeway. The driver who killed the two teenagers, Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano, was released after serving less than four years of a 10-year sentence, authorities said.
“I sit and do nothing but look at the picture of my daughter and her friend,” Varfolomeev said.
Spitzer called that statement devastating.
“You have simply given up, and your life has lost so much meaning because what we live for as parents is just to watch our children and our grandchildren grow up safe,” Spitzer said. “(This is) about understanding to your very core what this crime does to your family, to your friends, to your community … to your psyche.”
State Sen. Bob Archuleta, another speaker, has introduced a bill that seeks to strengthen California’s DUI laws, including making voluntary manslaughter a violent felony and ensuring convicted DUI drivers serve the full term for each person they killed. His eldest grandchild was killed by an accused drunk driver in 2024 two days before Christmas.
Sanchez, the prosecutor who lost his grandmother, sat through the entire trial of Edward James Nani, and when Nani chose to testify, Sanchez had hoped Nani would give some explanation of why he chose to drink and drive that night.
Instead, Sanchez said, what he heard Nani say was in essence, “It’s life, that these things happen, that he’s a good person.”
Then it was prosecutor Feldman’s turn to ask questions.
“Do you remember the name of the woman you killed?” Sanchez recalled him asking.
“I watched for the next hour as that man tore him apart on cross-examination,” Sanchez said. “The DA’s Office was doing something about it, they were advocating for my abuelita (grandma in Spanish).
“During (my) victim-impact statement, I swore to everyone in that courtroom that I’d be back in that courtroom some day as a prosecutor,” Sanchez said, referring to a point in the case when loved ones were allowed to talk to the court. “Because I could think of no better way to honor my abuelita than by administering justice in the same courthouse where she received hers.”
He lost his first DUI trial.
When the officer who investigated stopped by his office, they argued, they were frustrated, Sanchez recalled.
He told the officer he lost his grandmother to a DUI crash.
The officer said he had responded to that call and led the investigation.
“I promise you, in that building there are hundreds of people,” Sanchez said during the event, held in the D.A. Office’s courtyard, “who work tirelessly to make sure justice is done, and I can only say now it’s an honor to be a part of that.”