A popular social media influencer from Los Angeles, California, is facing some serious legal trouble following a deadly incident that occurred last year.

Summer Wheaton, 33, turned herself in to authorities on Monday after the L.A. County Sheriff's Department issued a warrant for her arrest on charges of manslaughter and drunk driving, according to the New York Post.

Wheaton, a "wellness" lifestyle influencer who boasts more than 100,000 followers on Instagram, was wanted by law enforcement for allegedly driving drunk after a July 4 party last year and subsequently causing a car accident that resulted in the death of the other driver.

Arrested and booked

On Monday, the Sheriff's Department posted an update on Facebook about how a months-long investigation of the July 4, 2024, fatal car accident on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu had resulted in an arrest warrant being issued for Wheaton.

Wheaton "surrendered herself" to authorities that day and was "booked for the charges of Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated, Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol Causing Bodily Injury, and Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol with a BAC of 0.08% or above Causing Bodily Injury."

According to NBC News, she was released from custody later that same day after a $250,000 bond was posted.

It was not immediately clear when Wheaton will next be due in court or even if she has an attorney, and requests for comment sent through her social media pages and website went unanswered.

Involved in a deadly drunk driving accident

The Post reported that Wheaton had been in attendance last year at an annual Independence Day party for celebrities and social elites at a high-end beachside restaurant and bar in Malibu known as Nobu.

She reportedly left that party around 10:30 pm and shortly thereafter veered across the median on the PCH in her 2019 Mercedes and into a head-on collision with an oncoming 2020 Cadillac SUV operating as a rideshare driven by Martin Okeke, 44, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Wheaton and Okeke's passenger both suffered injuries and received treatment at a nearby hospital, and law enforcement was quick to determine in the aftermath that Wheaton's excessive speed and intoxication were the likely causes of the accident, though it is unclear why it took so many months for those determinations to be translated into criminal charges.

Victim's family files wrongful death lawsuit

Meanwhile, NBC News reported that Okeke's grieving family filed a wrongful death lawsuit that names Wheaton as a defendant alongside the restaurant and its ownership groups.

The suit alleges that Nobu failed to obtain a proper permit from Malibu officials to hold the annual party and that the ownership neglected to enforce a supposed rule that attendees must catch a ride with a second party, such as a ride-share or limousine, rather than drive themselves to and from the event.

The family has demanded a full jury trial for their claims and has requested an unspecified amount of damages be imposed "without limitations."

The outlet noted that Wheaton has not yet spoken publicly about the deadly incident last July but did make a cryptic post in December about "the last few months have been hard" for her, and wrote at that time, "You know that feeling when life seems like it’s all falling apart, but somehow it’s a start of something really beautiful? Well, that was me."