VCU student charged in death of another student in car accident
Student dies in car crash, fellow student charged with DUI, felon manslaughter
Mason Brown
Staff Writer
A VCU student was killed in a car accident Wednesday morning and a fellow VCU student is being charged for it.
Sophomore Carolina Perez from Virginia Beach was killed when Varinder “Vick” Chahal’s Mazda 6, driving on East Canal Street, ran a red light and T-boned the Toyota Yaris Perez was riding in.
The Yaris hit a building after the collision. Perez was in the backseat of the car and was taken to VCU Medical Center where she died a few hours later, police told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Perez was a biology major at the school on the pre-med track. She was also pursuing a double minor in Catholic studies and chemistry at VCU.
Chahal, the driver of the Mazda, is a member of the Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity chapter at VCU. He has been charged with felony manslaughter, driving under the influence and refusal to submit to a blood or breath test.
Chahal and the four other passengers of his car were not injured in the crash.
VCU President Michael Rao addressed the accident in an email to students.
“On behalf of the VCU community, I express tremendous sadness at the tragic loss of one of our students early today in a car crash in Richmond,” Rao said.
Two other students who were in the Yaris are being treated for injuries at VCU Medical Center for their injuries. According to police, the injuries are not life threatening.
Counseling services are being offered at University Counseling Services in Room 238 at the Student Commons.
