Man changes plea to no contest in deadly Friant crash

Family members of 22-year-old Amaya Chenot continue to keep her memory alive after her tragic death in April 2023.

"She has a lot of great memories, a lot of great friends that still keep in contact with us and make sure that we know that she was loved," Chenot's aunt, Lindsay Chenot said.

Chenot's life was cut short when her car was t-boned while turning onto Friant Road from Shepherd in northeast Fresno.

"We'll never see her again," Lindsay said.

The incident was captured on video by Daniel Wells who lives in the area.

Fresno police say, then 53-year-old John Ashcraft, ran a red light on Friant in a tow truck and struck Chenot's car.

He plead not guilty last December, but on Tuesday changed his plea to no contest.

"You understand I'll accept your no contest pleas, but I'll use those no contest pleas to make a finding as guilt?" Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Conklin asked Ashcraft.

"Yes, your honor," Ashcraft replied.

Chenot's family grateful to be one step closer to closing the case.

"It's been a long road," Lindsay said. "Almost a year that he's been in custody. We've of course been dealing with this for about a year and a half but it's nice to see justice finally being done, almost to where he's accepting responsibility for what he's done."

Ashcraft's defense attorney said his change in plea shows he's remorseful about the crash.

"It's a little hard because I don't think he's shown remorse," Lindsay explained.

"It's not that we want some type of acknowledgement, but his facial expressions kind of show a lot and it's tough to see."

In court Tuesday, Ashcraft admitted he was high on meth and didn't have a license at the time of the crash.

Ashcraft will be sentenced on October 30th for multiple charges including felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and felony DUI causing great bodily injury.

He faces a maximum of ten years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

However, the judge in this case said the court will likely rule for a midterm sentence of maximum six years.

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