In Provo, Utah last Thursday, Maria Fregoso-Avina was put in jail for her negligent homicide. On February 15th, the 49-year-old woman had been arrested for killing a bicyclist by hitting him with her SUV and pushing him into an oncoming train. The victim was 69-year-old avid cyclist, Douglas Crow.
After serving her sentence of 210 days in jail, Fregoso-Avina will be granted a “voluntary departure” in immigration court, and will go back to her native Mexico. Similar to deportation, but with less legal obstacles. Because she pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor in March, and is willing to have a voluntary departure, the judge didn’t order anything beyond the jail time.
Through investigation, police have found the windshield of the driver was covered with frost, except for a small circle in front of the wheel. According to the story from KSL, “(She) was making a left turn when the railroad crossing arms went down behind her vehicle… she saw the FrontRunner train approaching and accelerated to get over the tracks” and according to the Affidavit, “Maria felt that she had struck something but did not know what because she never saw anything. Maria had struck a bicyclist pulling a bike trailer, and the bicyclist was (dragged) onto the train tracks”
Crow died on the scene. He was a beloved father of seven children, loved the outdoors, collecting antique bottles, and writing. He was planning on retiring this year after 30 years of custodial work at BYU.
It was an accident which unfortunately had fatal consequences. Our deepest condolences go out to Douglas Crow’s family and friends. A reminder to us all to stay aware and safe on the roads. If you or a loved one have suffered a similar accident, call Christensen & Hymas: 801-506-0800. No one can replace a tragic loss, but we might be able to help with the aftermath.
Image courtesy of ksl news
An accident occurred Tuesday afternoon in which 3 people were injured, including a man, a pregnant woman, and her infant child. They were hit in their Chevy Suburban near Route 112 and Utah Avenue after a man driving a Buick blew a stop sign at an estimated 60 MPH, according to KSL. This caused the Suburban to fishtail and eventually roll, where all 3 were ejected from the vehicle. The pregnant woman and her 1-year-old were taken by helicopter to Salt Lake City area hospitals, where they remained in critical condition Wednesday, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The male driver of the Suburban was taken to Mountain West Medical Center in Tooele with non-fatal injuries; the driver of the Buick was not injured in the crash.