A woman accused of killing her nine-year-old niece in a horrific DUI crash has been freed from jail without any bail conditions because prosecutors haven’t decided whether to file charges against her.
Christina Sorensen, 63, was allegedly driving a Corvette under the influence in Las Vegas on Saturday when she ran a red light and slammed into a Jeep, according to police.
Sorensen’s niece, Sophia Sandoval, was in the passenger seat and died from multiple blunt force injuries as a result of the crash, according to the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
Following Sorensen’s arrest at the scene of the two-car wreck, Justice of the Peace Natalie Tyrrell originally set Sorensen’s bail at $100,000 with electronic monitoring, a drug patch requirement and an order for her not to drive.
But since prosecutors have declined to formally charge Sorensen, her defense lawyer Ryan Helmick argued there was no justification to set bail. And a judge agreed.
‘You’ll be released without those conditions, based on the fact that there’s no charges or no case filed,’ North Las Vegas Chief Justice of the Peace Kalani Hoo told Sorensen in court on Thursday.
Before this decision had been reached, Chief Deputy District Attorney Megan Thomson asked the judge to keep the bail conditions and allow prosecutors a 120-day time limit to file charges, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.
‘This matter remains under investigation,’ the Clark County DA’s office said in a statement.
‘Law enforcement has not received the final toxicological analysis of Ms. Sorensen’s blood, which is required to determine what substances, if any, were present. Accordingly, the District Attorney’s Office is presently unable to file a criminal complaint,’ the statement continued.
The DA’s office added that police don’t expect toxicology results from the out-of-state laboratory where Sorensen’s blood was sent for ‘several months.’
Immediately after the crash, Sorensen consented to a blood draw.
And although a breath test showed she hadn’t been drinking alcohol, police said, she failed multiple field sobriety tests.
This is what gave them probable cause to arrest her, suspecting she ‘was driving under the influence of narcotics,’ according to an arrest report.
Sorensen, who worked as a cosmetologist at Posare Salon, will be free without any conditions until the DA actually charges her with a crime.
One of her coworkers at Posare Salon told FOX 5 Vegas that Sophia, Sorensen’s niece, had been at the salon the day of the crash to get her hair cut.
‘The little girl had come up to get her hair cut and she was with her father. But she wanted to ride in Christina’s Corvette,’ Jayceon Jefferson said.
Sorensen’s next hearing is scheduled for December 10.
According to court documents, she is facing charges of driving under the influence resulting in death, reckless driving resulting in death and child abuse or neglect.