Melvin Branch, 30, was scheduled to be in court Thursday, facing DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter charges, but prosecutors sent the case back to the CHP for further investigation.
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The DA's office says the case against Branch has been rejected for insufficient evidence at this time, and he was later released from jail.
Authorities say Branch was involved in a four-vehicle pileup just before 1 a.m. Tuesday on the westbound side of the 22 in the Garden Grove area. A 9-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the scene and her mother died at a nearby hospital.
Girl, 9, and mother killed in crash on 22 Fwy. in OC
Friends and family have identified the victims through a GoFundMe page as Jolene Gardner and her daughter, Payton Castillo. The page says they were driving home from a New Year's Eve party.
Branch was arrested on suspicion of DUI after the crash, CHP officers said in a report at the time.
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