Teen driver may face prosecution in crash that killed 4 Marin teens, judge rules

The teen driver involved in last year’s fiery crash that killed four Marin County teenagers appeared in court Monday, where a judge denied her request for diversion, sending her case forward, reports said.

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Marin County Superior Court Judge James T. Chou issued the ruling after hearing emotional statements from the victims’ family members, with many loved ones sharing opposing views over whether the teen should be prosecuted, multiple news outlets reported. 

“This has been one of the saddest and most difficult cases that I have encountered in my 37 years of practicing law,” he said, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

The driver now faces the possibility of prosecution, and if convicted, she could be sentenced to a year in juvenile detention. If she had been granted diversion, she likely would have faced lesser penalties, such as community service, according to the news outlet.

The teenager is facing a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in connection with the crash on April 18, 2025, SFGATE previously reported. (It is SFGATE’s policy not to identify individuals under the age of 18 accused of a crime.) Six friends who attended Archie Williams High School in San Anselmo, ages 14 to 16, were traveling in a Volkswagen SUV on San Geronimo Valley Road when the driver allegedly lost control of the car and plowed into a tree. The car burst into flames, and Olive Koren, Sienna Katz, Josalynn Osborn and Ada Kepley died in the crash, while Marley Barclay and the driver survived.

The driver spoke out for the first time during the court hearing, addressing the victims’ families.

“Regardless of the outcome, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to honor my friends and their memory,” the driver said.

Many family members told the judge about the crash’s lasting effects, including emotional trauma, divorce and heart attacks, according to the Chronicle.

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The surviving passenger, Barclay, also addressed the judge, repeating her account that an oncoming car was heading toward them. However, California Highway Patrol investigators could not confirm reports of another car. She is the only person to recall the crash because the driver was hospitalized with severe burns and doesn’t remember what happened.

“I saw a lot of things that no 14-year-old should have seen,” Barclay said in court, according to the Chronicle. “I saw headlights coming toward us. … I know what I saw that night. I would never lie about anything in this type of situation.”

Charles Dresow, the driver’s attorney, previously requested that case be dismissed because of an allegedly inadequate investigation by the CHP, specifically by the two officers who interviewed the only surviving passenger, Barclay, the Chronicle reported. Dresow alleged that officers “destroyed their notes” and that their audio recordings with Barclay “failed.”

The cause of the crash remains unclear. The car’s “black box” was destroyed, leaving CHP investigators to rely on a melted speedometer, which they said indicated the vehicle was traveling at least 20 mph over the speed limit, the Chronicle reported. 

The driver is set to return to court in two weeks for another hearing. Dresow and the Marin County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.