Published TUESDAY August 11, 2026: 'A MOTHER FIGHTS BACK: When an 'Accident' Kills' from ZUMA represented Pulitzer winner Renee C. Byer and investigative reporter Ariane Lange both staff at The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento mother Allison Lyman fights for justice after her son, Connor Lopez, was killed by a driver in a collision often dismissed by legal systems as a minor accident. The story highlights how California law often treats such deaths as misdemeanors rather than severe criminal offenses, sparking a push for greater accountability. Roughly 10 people die every day on California roadways and the state averages roughly 3,800 to 4,000 traffic fatalities per year, placing it second in the nation behind Texas. Officials have acknowledged that the vast majority of these traffic fatalities are preventable with changes to infrastructure and policy. ''Death and serious injuries are unacceptable,'' the California State Transportation Agency says. But roadway safety and public transportation are chronically underfunded, and the death toll has continued to rise. Only a minority of car crash deaths lead to criminal charges, but for those that do, the outcomes are quite unlike many other homicides. Welcome to 'A MOTHER FIGHTS BACK: When an 'Accident' Kills'
© zReportage.com Issue #1050 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY August 11, 2026: 'A MOTHER FIGHTS BACK: When an 'Accident' Kills' from ZUMA represented Pulitzer winner Renee C. Byer and investigative reporter Ariane Lange both staff at The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento mother Allison Lyman fights for justice after her son, Connor Lopez, was killed by a driver in a collision often dismissed by legal systems as a minor accident. The story highlights how California law often treats such deaths as misdemeanors rather than severe criminal offenses, sparking a push for greater accountability. Roughly 10 people die every day on California roadways and the state averages roughly 3,800 to 4,000 traffic fatalities per year, placing it second in the nation behind Texas. Officials have acknowledged that the vast majority of these traffic fatalities are preventable with changes to infrastructure and policy. ''Death and serious injuries are unacceptable,'' the California State Transportation Agency says. But roadway safety and public transportation are chronically underfunded, and the death toll has continued to rise. Only a minority of car crash deaths lead to criminal charges, but for those that do, the outcomes are quite unlike many other homicides. Welcome to 'A MOTHER FIGHTS BACK: When an 'Accident' Kills'

A cross left in memory of her son, Connor Lopez, is reflected in ALLISON LYMAN'S sunglasses as she holds a vehicular manslaughter sign near the intersection where he was struck by a motorist while riding his motorcycle and killed on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Elk Grove. Lyman returns every Wednesday between 3 and 4 p.m. the time and day her son was killed, to hold a weekly vigil with relatives. She only missed the vigil on New Year's Eve.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

Family and friends, including ALLISON LYMAN, left, Connor Lopez's mother, attend the second annual vigil for lives lost to vehicular violence within Sacramento city limits at Fremont Park in Sacramento.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

Outside Sacramento Superior Court Ella Lopez wears a button with her brother Connor Elliott Lopez's image and displays a tattoo of his beloved but ill-tempered cat, Benny, in his memory. She was at court after Harjit Kaur did not appear for her arraignment. Kaur turned left into Lopez's motorcycle path on April 23, killing him.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN receives a hug of support from VERONICA MARQUEZ alongside her husband, JOHN LYMAN, right, outside Sacramento Superior Court. They were at court after Harjit Kaur did not appear for her arraignment. Kaur turned left into the path of Lyman's son, Connor Lopez, as he rode home from an Elk Grove gym on April 23, 2025, killing him.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

Allison Lyman wears a necklace engraved with her son Connor Elliott Lopez's fingerprint in Sacramento, after Harjit Kaur did not appear for her arraignment. Lyman said the necklace is especially meaningful because Lopez's piano-playing hands were severely injured in the April 23 crash that killed him.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN hugs clothing belonging to her late son, Connor Lopez, in his apartment in Sacramento. She has kept the apartment since his death on April 23, 2025. 'I hug it because it smells just like him' she said. On his dresser rests a statue she called his 'Best Brother' award, one of the first things he displayed.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN breaks down in tears in her late son Connor Lopez's apartment in Sacramento. 'I don't think people understand what these deaths really are: the family, the loss, the agony, the life that was taken so senselessly and to see how little consequences there are for taking that. It's just so wrong' she says.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN, who often visits her son's grave at East Lawn Memorial Park in Elk Grove, speaks quietly to Connor Lopez after giving a victim impact statement earlier that day at Sacramento Superior Court. Sixteen family members and friends also delivered victim impact statements during the hearing. Lyman is still waiting for the headstone to be installed and said she is grateful to keep flowers and photos of her son on display.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN, center, speaks about the impact of her son Connor Lopez's death alongside her husband, JOHN LYMAN, left, who holds a photo of Lopez, during the second annual vigil for lives lost to vehicular violence within Sacramento city limits at Fremont Park. The traffic cones represent victims killed in traffic collisions.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

Family members of Conor Lopez, from left, cousin BAYLEY JONES, grandmother CHRISTINE CLINKENBEARD, grandfather JOHN LEMIEUX, and sisters AVA, 11, and JULIA, 12, hold signs on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims at the State Capitol in Sacramento. Lopez died in April while riding his motorcycle in Elk Grove, going straight when a car turned into him. His death came exactly two years after Erika Pringle's brother, Andrew, was struck and killed on his skateboard by a driver who ran a red light in Rosemont. Pringle organized the vigil in Sacramento for other victims of what she calls vehicular homicide.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN wipes away tears outside Sacramento Superior Courthouse alongside her husband, JOHN LYMAN, her son's stepfather, who wears a sweatshirt and button with an image of Connor Elliott Lopez, in Sacramento, after Harjit Kaur did not appear for her arraignment. Kaur turned left into the path of Lopez's motorcycle on April 23, and the collision killed him. Lyman said she was not able to say goodbye to her son.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN carries a sign back to her car after spending the past hour near the intersection where her son, Connor Lopez, was killed when a motorist turning across traffic struck him while he was riding his motorcycle in April 2025. The sign aims to raise awareness among motorists to think before they turn. Lyman returns to the intersection along Sheldon Road every Wednesday during the same hour her son was killed.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

A passing motorist is blurred in motion as he shouts, 'Rest in Peace Connor' and waves to Lopez's family in Elk Grove. Lopez's family returns every week on the same day and during the same hour he was struck and killed while riding his motorcycle at the intersection of Sheldon Road. Drivers honk and wave to the family, who have been gathering near the intersection since his death.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

HARJIT KAUR spent most of the hearing looking down while family members and friends delivered victim impact statements, except when Connor Lopez's father, Vidal Lopez, asked her to look at him during the hearing in Sacramento. It was Kaur's first appearance in court.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN pauses during her victim impact statement as she faces defendant Harjit Kaur for the first time at a hearing for the death of her late son, Connor Lopez, in Sacramento. Family members and friends held photos of Lopez and took the podium to reread their victim impact statements so Kaur, who had not attended previous hearings, could hear them.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN wipes away tears as she reacts during the arraignment of Harjit Kaur, who was not present in Sacramento Superior Court. After a vehicle crash, Kaur, then 49, was charged with unlawfully killing Lyman's son, Connor Lopez, 23. While driving an SUV, she turned left in front of his motorcycle. The impact killed him.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

Family members, including Connor Lopez's grandmother CHRISTINE CLINKENBEARD, hold signs outside Sacramento Superior Court after crowding into the small courtroom in hopes of finding some closure during the arraignment of Harjit Kaur. Kaur did not appear in court. Two of his younger siblings, Julia and Ava Lyman stand at center behind a photo of his beloved but ill-tempered cat, Benny.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

ALLISON LYMAN listens to her late son Connor Lopez's piano music on her mobile phone while visiting his apartment near Sacramento City College, where he was a student. Lopez was a piano teacher who hoped to attend law school. She has kept the apartment and the light on since his death in April 2025.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire