Driver sentenced in deadly 2022 Father's Day crash in Fresno County

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Through tears, a Madera man's family tries to describe the hole left in their hearts more than a year after he was killed by a drunk driver on Father's Day 2022.

Their emotional testimonies come as the driver responsible received his sentence.

Narayana Zerr was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the deadly drunk driving crash. Mckiernan's family wanted Zerr to start his sentence, knowing what they'd lost.

"After he gave me a hug goodbye on Father's Day," said Stan McKiernan, Ashton's Dad. "His last words to me were, 'I love you, Dad.' I said to him, 'I want you to be a good dad to your boys.' And Ashton replied, 'I am a good dad.' And those were the last words that we spoke."

41-year-old Ashton McKiernan, an only child, spent Father's Day 2022 with his wife and two young kids at his parent's home. Minutes after leaving their home, his life was cut short.

Around 7 pm, a black pickup truck driven by Narayana Zerr hit the family's car head-on.

"We had a beautiful conversation of what Sundays would be like when we're retired, and our boys coming to visit us, and he said we probably have baseball on TV, and I'll have a good time," said Anna McKiernan, Ashton's Wife.

"Then, literally a few minutes later, he was dead."

McKiernan's wife, Anna, battling her own injuries, begged her husband to stay alive and called his parents. His parents rushed to the scene.

"As parents, we were witness to this entire tragedy of watching our son being removed from the car and laying on the ground," said Colette McKiernan, Ashton's Mom." All efforts made to revive him failed. In those final moments, his dad and I were allowed to hold him in our arms as he lay dead on the ground."

McKiernan died at the scene. His wife and sons, a 2-year-old and an infant, have spent the last year recovering from their injuries, both physically and emotionally.

At the time of the crash, police said Zerr had a blood alcohol content nearly three and a half times the legal limit. Zerr pleaded guilty in June of 2023.

"The defendant is statutorily eligible for probation, but that would not be an appropriate sentence under any of these conditions that we are faced with today, so probation is denied," said Hon. Timothy Kam, Fresno County Superior Court.

The judge sentenced Zerr to 12 years in prison, and he must pay $3,600 in restitution.

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