Friends mourn woman killed in crash involving tow truck in northeast Fresno

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Friends of Amaya Chenot are remembering the 22-year-old for her bubbly personality.

Fresno police say the former Yosemite High School student was killed early Wednesday morning when a tow truck ran a red light at the intersection of Shepherd and Friant.

"She was great, she was one of a kind and I don't think I will ever find a friendship like that," said Lupita Salazar.

Salazar said she and Amaya Chenot had been friends since high school. Chenot was the type of friend that Salazar said was there whenever and however her friends needed.

"That's the number one thing that Amaya was, her love was unconditional with anybody," said Salazar.

Eventually, Chenot helped Salazar plan her wedding. It's a memory Salazar holds dear.

"That's one of the greatest memories I have of her as of right now, there's many, but that one tops it off by a lot," said Salazar.

For other friends, it was a bond born on the softball diamond.

"I first met Amaya a long time ago in middle school through softball," said Angelina McBride.

McBride played softball with Chenot through high school. She said Chenot was supportive of her friends on and off the field.

"Amaya would always be smiling, even if we had lost a game, Amaya would be pumping up her teammates, telling everyone they did an amazing job," said McBride.

Her sudden loss is something her friends are still processing.

"We had planned on hanging out today, going to the movies, watching movies and just being together and that was cut short," said Salazar.

The Friant-Shepherd intersection where Chenot died is one Fresno Police are well aware of. Police Chief Paco Balderrama said it's probably one of the most driven stretches of road in the city, making it more prone to accidents. He broke down some of the incidents they've seen there since January 2022.

"We've had 15 collisions, 1 fatality accident, as you know, 6 injury accidents, and we've also had 8 non-injury accidents," said Balderrama.

Balderrama said his officers patrol that area heavily, but they need drivers to pay attention on the roads.

"Terribly sad situation and it happened because somebody disregarded a traffic control device," said Balderrama. "The tragedy that happened this week is just that, a tragedy. That individual should not have died."

No charges have been filed in the incident at this time as the investigation continues.

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