BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It started with a missing phone.
That’s what sparked Tevin Brandt to go on a search early March 4, 2023, that ended in a fiery crash — killing two sisters and badly injuring a third.
Brandt’s trial on charges including murder began Monday.
17 News is live blogging the proceedings.
Brandt, who had been out bar-hopping in Bakersfield, noticed his cellphone was missing and used an app to track it.
Gustavo Montoya, an Uber driver who had earlier given him a ride, 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 sisters Karime and Jennifer Duarte and Diana Ponce, who were delivering newspapers.
The men allegedly confronted them, believing they had Brandt’s phone.
The sisters, in an attempt to get away, sped to the end of McKee Road as the men gave chase in their vehicles. The sisters’ vehicle left the road and was launched onto Highway 99, where it was hit by a pickup and burst into flames.
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 parked at the location where he first confronted the sisters.
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