California physician’s gentle sentence for lethal hit-and-run sparks outrage

A California heart specialist who fled the scene after fatally placing a 26-year-old mom of three in Fresno will spend solely eight months behind bars for the crime — a sentence that left the sufferer’s household outraged.

Dr. James Comazzi was sentenced Wednesday by Fresno County decide sentenced him in reference to the February 2021 dying of Juliana Ramos, a Reedley girl who was finding out to develop into a licensed nursing assistant.

Ramos was killed after pulling over close to Manning Avenue to help one other crash sufferer, ABC 30 reported.

Comazzi briefly obtained out of his automobile earlier than leaving the scene, in response to the California Freeway Patrol.

The motive force remained unidentified for months till investigators linked Comazzi to the deadly collision via an nameless tip.

In emotional statements delivered in court docket Wednesday, Ramos’ kinfolk described a loss that continues to hang-out their household almost 5 years later.

“My grandma misplaced her daughter. My mother, aunts and uncles misplaced her sister,” stated Ramos’ niece, Ivette Lopez. “My cousin misplaced an aunt and I misplaced a greatest pal. However most significantly, her children misplaced their mom at a really younger age.”

Lopez additionally questioned how a doctor may flee the scene after hitting somebody who had stopped to assist others.

“What sort of physician in any specialty does that? He managed to get away with it for eight months. Did he have any regret? Did he take into consideration the ache he had precipitated for my household?” she stated.

Comazzi addressed Ramos’ household throughout the sentencing, telling them: “No phrases can undo the previous or repair the profound brokenness brought on by my actions.”

Fresno County Superior Court docket Choose James Kelley famous the case may have performed out a lot otherwise if the motive force had stayed on the scene.

“Had he caught round at that time, had he stayed, this case in any respect would’ve been introduced as a misdemeanor,” Kelley stated.

Comazzi beforehand pleaded no contest to felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter prices.

On Wednesday, the decide ordered him to serve eight months in county jail.

Ramos’ family members argued the punishment did not mirror the magnitude of what was taken from them.

“I imagine that Mr. Comazzi doesn’t deserve the sentence of probation with as much as a yr in jail. That call was set to be based mostly on his age and lack of felony document. However what about Juli? Did her age not matter? She had no felony document. She was going to high school to develop into a CNA,” Lopez defined.

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