Nicole Herschel, a 36-year-old Malibu horse trainer, was sentenced to one year of jail on Thursday, Nov. 16, according to the Los Angeles Times. The sentencing comes after she was involved in a June 2016 crash; Herschel drove a pickup truck and crashed into Pepperdine student Yijing Chen and her mother Hongfen Shen at the 101 Freeway onramp crosswalk. The truck ran over Chen’s leg and Shen’s torso, instantly killing the 53-year-old.
A previous LA Times article, quoting a witness, stated, “ [Herschel] ‘slammed the truck in reverse,’ then backed up along Las Virgenes Road against traffic and parked.”
California Highway Patrol records show that Herschel said that she had stopped at the scene on her way to the nearby grocery store. Authorities soon determined that marks on the truck matched Shen’s footwear.
Herschel, charged with vehicular manslaughter, is expected to head to prison on Jan. 26, 2018.