2 Indian American Women Killed in Fiery Car Crash in Fresno, Calif., Remembered by Family
- Simranjit Kaur, 28 of Huron, and Navneet Kaur, 20 were killed a fiery multi-vehicle crash, along with Juan Dominguez, 54 of Fresno, on March 20 night, when a motorist fleeing deputies collided into multiple cars at high speed.
Family members are mourning the tragic death of two Indian American women killed in a car accident in Fresno in March. Simranjit Kaur, 28 of Huron, and Navneet Kaur, 20 of Fresno were killed a fiery multi-vehicle crash, along with Juan Dominguez, 54 of Fresno, in east-central Fresno on March 20 night, when a motorist fleeing Fresno County deputies collided into multiple cars at high speed. “Confirmation of the cousins’ identities was delayed due to the Fresno County Coroner’s office needing to access dental records and DNA samples,” yourcentralvalley.com reported.
Simranjit Kaur was working on getting her master’s degree while her cousin, Navneet Kaur, was a hardworking 20-year-old who dreamed of one day becoming a police officer, the family told ABC30 in an interview on April 29. “She didn’t deserve this, neither did,” Simranjit Kaur’s brother Ricky Multani told ABC. “It wasn’t supposed to happen if he pulled over,” he said. “”He took our dreams and our family.” Simranjit was the first in the family to graduate and always put others, especially her family, first. She brought the family together, we celebrated Christmas… life’s too short. Love your family because you never know their last day,” Multani said.
Navneet Kaur and her mother worked at a Subway shop owned by Gary Singh. He told ABC that on the day of the accident, Navneet Kaur and her parents went with Simranjit Kaur to drive by Fresno City College because she had an exam scheduled at the campus the following day. Navneet Kaur’s parents were in the back seat and survived, “but are still suffering from burn injuries,” Singh told ABC. “The mom and daughter had this connection I’ve never seen,” Singh told ABC. “They were best friends. Every customer that came in, she’d ask about the day and took her time to get to know somebody.”
The driver of the Camaro, Francisco Portillo, 20, ran a red light and hit several cars at McKinley Avenue and Cedar Avenue, causing the multi-car crash. Portillo and his female passenger were seriously injured in the accident and were taken to Community Regional Medical Center for treatment, The Fresno Bee reported. He faces the possibility of 25 years and 8 months in prison, according to the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.
He was charged with three counts gross vehicular manslaughter while impaired. In addition, he was charged with evading and causing death and great bodily injury, driving under the combined influences of drugs and alcohol causing get bodily injury, reckless driving causing great bodily injury, failure to stop at a red light, unsafe speed, and driving with a blood alcohol content of .05 percent or higher while under the age of 21. He pleaded not guilty to all charges April 23.