Mother and son both dead after crash sends them into Fresno canal

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A mother and her son were both killed after a hit-and-run crash in central Fresno that sent their vehicle into a canal early Monday morning, according to the Fresno Police Department. Police say around 2 a.m., they responded to a crash at McKinley Avenue and Fresno Street on Monday morning, where they say a vehicle went into a canal after the crash. Another vehicle was found in the middle of McKinley Avenue, and the driver of that vehicle was gone, police say. The Fresno County Coroner's Office later released the identities of the two killed when their vehicle went into the canal. In an update to the crash on Monday afternoon, Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto said the suspect vehicle, a Honda Pilot, had gone through a red light and struck the victim's vehicle, a 2020 Dodge Durango. That crash caused the victim's vehicle to go into the canal. Rescue crews searching the vehicle that went into the canal found a 41-year-old woman inside. The woman was transported to Community Regional Medical Center, where she later died. Around five hours later, at around 7 a.m., reports of a second body in the vehicle were received. Rescue crews returned to the scene and eventually found a child in the water after searching the scene for several hours. Fresno Police later confirmed that two victims were a boy and his mother. They were returning home from a family gathering in Madera when the crash took place. Chief Casto says it was only when family members started asking about the female victim's son that they realized there was another person inside the vehicle. "When family members of the decedent began asking where her son was. We had no idea, no indication that there was anyone else in the car until family was able to point us in that direction," said Chief Casto. A witness described the suspect driver as possibly intoxicated. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Fresno Police Department at 559-621-7000.