Authorities announced Tuesday the arrest of Summer Wheaton, a 33-year-old social media influencer, in connection with a deadly crash in Malibu last year. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Wheaton was taken into custody around 1 p.m. Monday following a months-long investigation.
The fatal accident occurred on July 4, 2024, along Pacific Coast Highway, west of Carbon Canyon—about a mile from the celebrity-frequented Nobu Malibu.
According to investigators, Wheaton was driving eastbound in her 2019 Mercedes-Benz when she crossed the medianand collided head-on with a 2020 Cadillac driven by 44-year-old rideshare driver Martin Okeke, who died at the scene.
Wheaton voluntarily surrendered at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, where she was booked on charges of:
Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated
DUI causing bodily injury
Driving with a BAC of 0.08% or higher causing bodily injury
Her bail was set at $230,000, and she posted bond at 3:33 p.m. Monday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Inmate Information Center.
Wheaton, who has over 101,000 followers on the social media app Instagram under the handle @yepitsmesummer, is known for her luxury lifestyle content. She spoke vaguely of the incident saying its been a “hard” few months.
“You know that feeling when life feels like it’s all falling apart, but somehow it’s the start of something really beautiful? Well, that was me,” she said in the voiceover. “The last few months have been hard. I went through moments where I truly didn’t know I pulled through.”
“But in the chaos, something shifted. I was reminded of a deeper truth: that beautiful things can bloom out of despair,” she said. “Sometimes it’s in those broken places where faith takes root and grows stronger.”
The news of her arrest has sparked outrage, particularly from those calling for justice for Okeke and his family.
