Left inset: Juliana Ramos. Right inset: Dr. James Comazzi. Background: The crash scene in California where Juliana Ramos was hit and killed by Dr. James Comazzi, a cardiologist from Tuolumne County (KFSN).
A California cardiologist has been sentenced to less than a year in jail after fatally hitting a young mother of three with his SUV. The tragic incident occurred when the woman had stopped to assist someone involved in a car accident.
Juliana Ramos, 26, had pulled over to offer aid to a driver involved in a crash, as detailed by a GoFundMe page set up by her family following her death in 2021. Sadly, a passing vehicle struck her, resulting in her immediate death, according to the fundraiser.
The vehicle was driven by Dr. James Comazzi, a cardiologist from Tuolumne County. Ramos had stopped near Manning Avenue in Fresno to help an individual involved in the February 2021 accident when Comazzi hit her, as reported by local ABC station KFSN.
In March 2026, Comazzi entered a no contest plea to charges of felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. His sentence, announced on Wednesday, includes eight months of incarceration followed by probation.
“I believe that Mr. Comazzi does not deserve the sentence,” Ramos’ niece, Ivette Lopez, shared with KFSN. “The decision seemed influenced by his age and clean record. But what about Juli? Didn’t her age matter? She had no criminal record and was pursuing a career as a CNA.”
After the crash, police and Ramos’ family said she was an aspiring nurse whose intention was “to help those involved in the accident” when she pulled over that night. Ramos was set to celebrate her birthday just two days later.
“She loved being with her kids,” Ramos’ sister, Claudia Sanchez, told KFSN in February 2021 after her death. “She’s a good person, she had a good heart. She didn’t deserve this.”
After hitting Ramos, police said Comazzi got out of his SUV for a moment and then got back in and fled.
“Had he stuck around at that point, had he stayed, this case at all, would’ve been brought as a misdemeanor,” Fresno County Superior Court Judge James Kelley said at Comazzi’s sentencing.
Lopez reportedly told the court, “What kind of doctor in any specialty does that? He managed to get away with it for eight months. Did he have any remorse? Did he think about the pain he had caused for my family?”
Comazzi spoke briefly during his sentencing, telling Ramos’ family, “No words can undo the past or fix the profound brokenness caused by my actions.”
He was committed to the custody of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office after the hearing to serve out his jail sentence. Kelley gave him credit for “two conduct credits,” per KFSN.