A Springfield man and a John Day woman died the night of Nov. 24 when their vehicle crashed into a jackknifed Freightliner semi and trailer on Highway 20 near milepost 51 southeast of Bend in Deschutes County.

The driver of the commercial vehicle, 32-year-old Rajinder Kumar of Fresno, California, is now facing two counts of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment charges for the crash.

According to Oregon State Police, state troopers responded to the scene around 9:30 p.m., where they learned a commercial motor vehicle and trailer, operated by Kumar, was stopped in a jackknifed position, blocking both lanes of travel, with the tractor facing eastbound in the eastbound lane.

A westbound Subaru Outback, operated by 25-year-old William Micah Carter of Springfield, traveling

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