In a case that has sent tremors through the Gujarati community in the US, 28-year-old Pavan Patel has been slapped with murder-level charges after his drunken, red-light-jumping rampage ended in a heart-breaking tragedy.

Patel – a Townsend resident – was allegedly boozed behind the wheel on the night of December 3, when he blasted his Jeep Grand Cherokee straight through a red signal on Jamison Corner Road in Middletown. His speeding SUV ploughed into a Mazda CX-9, where a 31-year-old pregnant woman was seated. She was rushed to hospital and within 48 hours, doctors were battling to save her unborn child. On December 5, she delivered a stillborn baby.

Patel, initially walked away. But once the baby’s death was confirmed, he was re-arrested, hit with a barrage of charges, and thrown behin

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