A jury will likely begin deliberations late Tuesday or Wednesday (May 23, 24) in the murder trial of a driver who crashed her BMW off a bridge near Sea World Drive in which her passenger was killed in 2021.

Both sides rested their case May 19 in the case of Jennifer Rae Xavier, 23, who is accused of causing the death of her friend, Sidnie Waller, 21, who drowned in the overturned vehicle in Tecolate Creek on March 4, 2021.

The last witness was a longtime friend of Xavier’s, who read out loud some emails that she exchanged with her several years ago in which Xavier acknowledged her problem with alcohol.

The emails were posted on a chart and the friend read her statements tearfully before the 10 men and six women on the jury and four alternates. Xavier told her friend she should take her car keys away from her because she was afraid she might kill someone if she drank and got behind the wheel in the email she wrote several years ago.

Xavier did not testify and her lawyer presented two witnesses including one who talked about trauma to the brain. Xavier escaped the wreckage and climbed up the ravine, and was picked up by a motorist who called 911. Her lawyer said she was “soaking wet and wandering” in the area.

Both Xavier and Waller had been drinking at a Pacific Beach bar. Waller, of Point Loma, sent text messages to her brother and a friend before the crash that said Xavier had been drinking and was driving recklessly.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh was to read lengthy jury instructions to the panel before they start discussions. The trial began with testimony on May 11.

Xavier is charged with second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI, and hit and run, as she did not stay at the scene of an accident. Jurors could decide to acquit her of murder and convict her of vehicular manslaughter or they convict or acquit her of all charges, although an acquittal on all charges is not likely.

Jurors were shown photographs of how the car, which was registered to Xavier’s parents, crossed the guardrail and ivy plants off the Sea World Drive ramp and plunged into the creek upside down.

Her parents have attended the trial daily, as have the family of Waller. Xavier remains in jail without bail.