An Oxnard truck driver was sentenced to one year in the Colusa County Jail on Monday for causing the 2019 traffic collision that killed another truck driver.
Malkeet Singh, 28, was convicted on April 26 of a single misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter, after he pleaded no contest to killing Leslie McCurry, 69, of Ceres, in a collision determined by the California Highway Patrol to be the result of Singh driving in an unlawful manner.
The crash occurred around 3:30 AM on Interstate 5 north of Maxwell, after Singh changed lanes when his 2013 Freightliner experienced mechanical difficulties.
Colusa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Thompson said while Singh did not act maliciously nor intend to cause the collision, he was negligent by not pulling the disabled 18-wheeler off the freeway. Instead, Thompson said Singh chose to drive at a slow and unsafe speed to avoid having to pay towing charges. The two trucks eventually collided, and McCurry suffered major injuries and was transported to Enloe Hospital, in Chico. He died two weeks later on Jan. 13, 2021.
While McCurrys family attended Mondays sentencing, they chose not to make a statement to the court, said Deputy District Attorney Winston Welch, who prosecuted the case.
Singh, through his attorney, expressed his remorse for the accident and offered his condolences.
Singh was immediately remanded to the custody of the Colusa County Sheriffs Department to serve a minimum six months behind bars.
The CHP said drugs or alcohol were not factors in the crash. Both trucks suffered damage from the collision, and traffic along the southbound lanes of the Interstate 5 Freeway had been closed for several hours. –Â