Riverdale couple killed in crash ID’d as CHP says driver may face manslaughter charges
A 20-year-old Fresno man could face manslaughter charges for his role in a crash that left a husband and wife dead Friday night along Highway 41 in southern Fresno County, the California Highway Patrol said.
The three-car crash took place just after 5 p.m. at the highway’s intersection with Mt. Whitney Avenue near Riverdale.
A driver of a BMW 330i, identified as Vikramamjit Samra, 20, was northbound on Highway 41, approaching stopped traffic because of a red light, CHP spokesman Mike Salas stated in a Saturday collision report.
Two other vehicles had stopped for the light as Singh approached. The BMW rear-ended a Chevrolet Aveo, killing the 52-year-old male driver and a 57-year-old female passenger.
They were identified Saturday as Salvador Llamas and Rasalva Chavez-Contreras, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Office, who said they were a husband and wife from Riverdale. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the man died at the hospital.
The impact pushed the Chevrolet into the rear of a Ford F-350, with major damage resulting to all three vehicles.
Samra and the driver of the truck, a 33-year-old Fresno man, were treated at the scene for minor to moderate injuries, according to the CHP, correcting an early report Friday that both were unhurt.
There were no other passengers.
“Mr. Samra faces charges of vehicular manslaughter,” the initial report stated, while noting the investigation was continuing.
Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the collision, according to the report.
Highway 41 was shut down in both directions while the road was cleared and investigators examined the scene. But it had reopened within a few hours Friday.
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 2:23 PM.
