Woman accused in DUI crash that killed niece freed by NLV judge

Because prosecutors haven’t filed charges against a woman accused in a fatal DUI crash that killed her 9-year-old niece, a judge Thursday ordered her to be released from jail without bail conditions.

Christina Sorensen, 63, was arrested after the two-vehicle wreck, which occurred at 4 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Simmons Street and West Ann Road in North Las Vegas. The Clark County coroner’s office identified the victim as Sophia Sandoval of Porterville, California, and said she died of multiple blunt force injuries.

Sandoval was a passenger in Sorensen’s car. Police said a Jeep crashed into the Corvette that Sorensen was driving when she tried to turn left against a red light.

At a hearing Monday, Justice of the Peace Natalie Tyrrell set bail at $100,000 with high electronic monitoring, a drug patch requirement and an order for Sorensen not to drive, according to court records. Defense Attorney Ryan Helmick said high electronic monitoring is equivalent to house arrest.

But prosecutors did not formally charge Sorensen, and Helmick argued in court that there was no legal basis for the bail conditions without charges.

On Thursday, North Las Vegas Chief Justice of the Peace Kalani Hoo agreed.

“You’ll be released without those conditions, based on the fact that there’s no charges or no case filed,” he told Sorensen at a Thursday morning hearing.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Megan Thomson had asked the judge to keep the bail conditions and give prosecutors 120 days to file charges.

“This matter remains under investigation,” the Clark County district attorney’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. It would be a violation of our prosecutorial ethics to file charges while the matter remains under investigation. Law enforcement does not expect to receive the toxicology results from the out-of-state laboratory for several months.”

Sorensen consented to a blood draw after the crash.

A breath test showed no signs of alcohol, according to police, but she failed several field sobriety tests. Her arrest report said officers had “probable cause to suspect Sorensen was driving under the influence of narcotics.”

Although he did not grant Thomson’s request for the bail conditions, Hoo set a new hearing for Dec. 10.

Sorensen faces charges of driving under the influence resulting in death, reckless driving resulting in death and child abuse or neglect, according to court records.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.