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 for the tragic death of a mother of three, whom he fatally struck with his SUV. The victim, an aspiring nurse, was killed while attempting to assist a motorist involved in a car accident.
Juliana Ramos, 26, had stopped her vehicle to offer aid to a fellow driver who had been in an accident, according to a GoFundMe campaign initiated by her family following her 2021 death. The campaign notes, “Tragically, a passing vehicle hit her, resulting in her immediate death.”
Dr. James Comazzi, a cardiologist from Tuolumne County, was identified as the driver of the vehicle that struck Ramos. The incident occurred near Manning Avenue in Fresno as Ramos attempted to assist at the scene of a February 2021 collision, according to a report from local ABC affiliate KFSN.
In March 2026, Comazzi entered a plea of no contest to charges of felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. As a result, he received an eight-month custodial sentence in addition to probation, which was handed down on Wednesday.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the sentence, Ramos’ niece, Ivette Lopez, told KFSN, “I believe that Mr. Comazzi does not deserve the sentence. That decision was set to be based on his age and lack of criminal record. But what about Juli? Did her age not matter? She had no criminal record. She was going to school to become a CNA.”
In the aftermath of the incident, both law enforcement and Ramos’ family highlighted her aspirations of becoming a nurse. They emphasized that her actions that night were driven by a desire to help those involved in the crash. Tragically, Ramos was just two days away from celebrating her birthday at the time of her untimely death.
“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.
