Head-on crash kills 7 children, 2 adults in Fresno County

FRESNO — Seven children and two adult drivers were killed in head-on collision in Fresno County on New Year’s day, authorities said. The children, who were between 6 and 15 years old, were members of two related families traveling in a 2007 Ford that collided around 8 p.m. Friday with a Dodge vehicle on State Route 33 between Avenal and Coalinga, the Fresno County Coroner’s office and the California Highway Patrol said.

Evidence from the scene indicated that the Dodge being driven by a 28-year-old man was traveling southbound on the highway when it veered onto the dirt shoulder for an unknown reason, the CHP said. The driver then overcorrected and swerved into the southbound lane, where it struck the Ford driven by a woman.

The Ford burst into flames on the dirt shoulder, while the Dodge came to a stop straddling both lanes of the highway, the CHP said.

The driver of the Dodge was identified as Daniel Luna of Avenal. The coroner’s office was working on identifying the victims in the Ford. of hitting and killing two women in a stolen car is a paroled robber who remained free despite being arrested several times in San Francisco in recent months, according to a newspaper report.

Troy McAlister, 45, was released from a state prison sentence for robbery in April and was not charged with new crimes by the District Attorney’s office after being arrested on suspicion of car theft in November and December, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

District Attorney Chesa Boudin said his office did not file new charges in the cases, choosing instead to refer each case to state parole agents, who can seek to imprison those who violate the terms of their release. He said parole officials have “more leverage” than his office to keep a person in custody for nonviolent charges.

“We referred these cases to parole because we believed there was a greater likelihood of him being held accountable and having the kind of intervention that would protect the public and break this cycle of recidivism,” Boudin said.

He said parole officers did not hold McAlister “for a single day” after his most recent arrest on Dec. 20.

The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which runs parole, pointed to prosecutors’ repeated decision not to file charges.