An Oregon appeals court has reversed the conviction of a woman who ran over and killed two young girls playing in a leaf pile in Forest Grove back in 2013.

Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros, a teenager at the time of the crash, didn't immediately realize she'd hit anything when she drove through the leaf pile, and the court did not dispute that despite original reports of a hit-and-run. She had thought it was a log, rock or pothole, and was concerned she'd damaged her boyfriend's car.

Garcia-Cisneros, her boyfriend and her brother checked the vehicle out when they got home, but didn't see any damage or anything unusual.

Mario Echeverria, Garcia-Cisneros' boyfriend, eventually pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution in the case. He admitted to trying to tamper with evidence after the crash.

It wasn't until later, when her brother was riding his bike to his girlfriend's house, that the pieces began to come together.

Her brother rode right by the same leaf pile and saw a man screaming over the pile, frantic and trying to use his phone. This was the father of 6-year-old Anna Deiter-Eckerdt and her 11-year-old stepsister Abigail Robinson. Both girls died as a result of the incident.

The brother went back to tell his sister what he saw, concerned she may have hit the two girls, according to court documents.

Authorities arrested Garcia-Cisneros for her involvement in the reported hit-and-run, and a 2014 jury trial landed her a conviction for failing to perform the duties of a driver.

A judge sentenced her to three years of probation and 250 hours of community service, and as an undocumented immigrant, she risked deportation. Officials turned her over the federal immigration enforcement, but the deportation case was eventually dismissed.

The appeals court's decision to reverse Garcia-Cisneros's conviction hinged on two main points:

Her knowledge that the incident occurred while she was still at / near the scene Whether the law requires a driver to return to a scene of an injury crash once they learn of it

The case did not dispute the assertion that she didn't realize she'd hit the girls until she was no longer at the scene. However, the case did argue she had a legal responsibility to return to the scene of the crash when she learned what had happened.

Particularly when a crash involves injuring or killing another, not to stay at the scene would be a felony failure to perform the duties of a driver, the case argued.

The appeals court ruled in Garcia-Cisneros' favor on this matter, arguing the law doesn't require the driver to go back if they didn't know they were involved until after they left the scene.

Below is a statement from the family of Abigail Robinson:

We are extremely sad and very confused about today's decision. It's about doing what is right; in our eyes Cinthya has continued to make choices to avoid the consequences for her behavior since the night our daughters went to Heaven. While the letter of the law needs to be determined, it is clear that 12 reasonable people agreed with the intent of the law and we have to ask that the letter of the law can be clarified. We will continue to honor our girls by not letting today's disappointment turn into anger or bitterness ~ today that is a little hard to do but tomorrow is another day.

Thank you,

Robinson Family