Maryland State Police have arrested and charged a suspected drunk driver involved in the fatal crash that killed an Indian-origin married couple in the United States this past weekend. State authorities identified the NRI pair as Venkata Asha Khanna Appana, 48, and Krishna Kishore Koti Kalapudi, 49. They were residents of Marvin in North Carolina.
In a news release dated January 5 (US time), the state authorities announced that the accused in custody was a 34-year-old man from Baltimore City in Maryland. His name is Michael Coupet.
Telugu NRI couple’s suspected DUI killer arrested and charged
Authorities have named him as the driver of a Toyota Sequoia that crashed into the NRI couple’s Chrysler Pacifica. Preliminary insight into the investigation indicated that the 34-year-old DUI suspect was travelling in the wrong direction at the time, resulting in the double fatal crash in Howard County.
After being taken into custody, Coupet was transported to the Howard County Detention Centre, where he is being held currently without bond.
He has since been charged with four counts of vehicular manslaughter, four counts of homicide by motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and impaired by alcohol, life-threatening injury by motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, life-threatening injury by motor vehicle while impaired, life-threatening injury involving a motor vehicle, driving under the influence, and driving while impaired, according to the Maryland State Police’s news release.
Tragedy strikes Telugu NRI family in the US – What happened?
As per the details provided by the State Police, the crash is said to have happened at 2:45 am, early Sunday morning (US time), on southbound Interstate 95 at Maryland 216. The Indian-origin family tragically affected by the accident was “returning home from India” after New Year’s celebrations, according to a GoFundMe page, as it was Kotikalapudi’s “greatest wish… for his parents to meet his children.”
Venkata Asha Khanna Appana was driving the Chrysler Pacifica at the time of accident. She was pronounced dead on the scene after Coupet’s vehicle reportedly hit the Telugu family’s car head-on. Her husband, Krishna Kishore, on the other hand, was taken to a local hospital, where he was later declared dead.
The Indian-origin family’s car had two additional passengers: the couple’s 21-year-daughter Shivani and 16-year-old son Suchay, as per a GoFundMe fundraiser. Both of them survived the crash. While the 21-year-old was taken by ambulance to a trauma centre, the 16-year-old victim was flown by Maryland State Police Aviation Command to a trauma centre.
The GoFundMe page set up to help the couple’s children financially navigate the challenging road ahead detailed that they had undergone major surgeries and remained in the ICU.
“These two bright, kind, and promising young souls now face life without the loving guidance, protection, and support of their parents. They are still in school—one in high school and the other in college—and must now navigate adulthood while healing from trauma no child should ever have to endure,” stated the fundraiser page.
The fundraising campaign had originally set a goal to garner $350,000 in 30 days. However, overwhelming support from the community helped achieve that target (and more) in less than a day itself. The target was ultimately increased to $450,000, and even that was easily secured with massive donations pouring in.
At the time of writing, $485,928 had been raised via the GoFundMe page, which affectionately identified the deceased Telugu couple as simply Krishna “KK” Kotikalapudi and Asha.