Elizabeth Carter told Rajinder Kumar she prays for him as he faces Highway 20 manslaughter charges.

Monday's video is what she said to him. It is not a plea and not a finding about who caused the crash. He has pleaded not guilty. A report that he is held without bail and a $1 million bail figure are not the same custody status. His prosecutor has named January for trial. Elkhorn Media Group printed January 2027.

Fox News on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, published video from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement office of Elizabeth Carter speaking to Rajinder Kumar, 32, at the passenger window of an ICE vehicle. Fox News reported she said, "Hello Mr. Kumar, my name is Elizabeth Carter; I'm William Micah Carter's mother," and, "I wanted you to know that I pray for you and your family, I know you didn't get up that morning planning to kill two newlyweds. And I know your family is going through something important too." Lookout Eugene-Springfield reported the meeting was Thursday, Oct. 15, in Bend, when Kumar arrived for transfer to the Deschutes County Jail, and that she spoke from what she called "a respectful distance" while he sat in an ICE vehicle. In a phone interview the next day, Lookout reported, she said she began, "My name is Elizabeth Carter. I am the mother of William Micah Carter. We called him Billy," and that when she said Billy his eyes got big and he looked down. Lookout reported she said she told him she knew he did not wake up that November day planning to end a newly formed family, that she and her family pray for him and his family, and, "I said that I hope he finds some measure of peace." The Fox News lines are what the station reported from the video. The Lookout lines are what she told the outlet she said. They are one meeting described two ways.

ICE said Kumar has been indicted in Deschutes County on two counts of first-degree manslaughter and three counts of recklessly endangering another person, from a November 2025 tractor-trailer crash, and that the charges remain pending. Fox News reported the same two counts and the same three endangerment counts. Lookout Eugene-Springfield reported he pleaded not guilty on March 30 in Deschutes County Circuit Court to two counts of manslaughter and to three misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person. The Bulletin described the felony charges as involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangering. First-degree manslaughter, manslaughter without a degree printed, and involuntary manslaughter are three descriptions of the homicide counts. Lookout's misdemeanor label for the endangerment counts is not in the ICE release. Elkhorn Media Group reported the endangerment counts relate to three other people in the crash and that court filings identify one of them only by initials.

The people who died were William Micah Carter, 25, and Jennifer Lynn Lower, 24, Fox News and Lookout reported. Both outlets reported they had been married 16 days. Lookout's photograph caption dated the wedding Nov. 8, 2025. Elkhorn Media Group reported they had been married just over two weeks. Fox News reported that on Nov. 24, 2025, Kumar's tractor-trailer jackknifed across U.S. Highway 20, blocking both lanes, and that the couple's Subaru Outback struck the semi and both were killed at the scene. Fox News called them passengers. The Bulletin reported their car hit his truck, which was jackknifed about eight miles east of Brothers. Elkhorn Media Group, citing Oregon State Police, reported the truck was jackknifed across the roadway near Brothers, about 80 miles west of Burns, around 9:30 p.m., in pitch-black conditions, and that investigators noted a lack of emergency warning equipment likely contributed. Lookout, also citing Oregon State Police, reported the agency listed dark conditions and "a lack of active emergency warning equipment" as primary factors. KTVZ reported the truck was jackknifed outside Brothers and that, according to the family, it sat across the highway with no warning lights, flares, cones, or emergency signals. The family's list and the state police wording are not the same sentence. Lookout reported they had been on their way to start their married lives in Springfield. Lookout reported prosecutors allege Kumar "unlawfully and recklessly" caused the two deaths.

ICE said that after the indictment it lodged a detainer with the Deschutes County Jail, that the county released him in April 2026 without honoring the detainer, and that officers arrested him on April 22, 2026. Fox News reported the jail declined the detainer on April 2. Elkhorn Media Group reported he posted bail on April 2 and that ICE arrested him again on April 22 in Bend. Lookout reported the April 22 arrest in Bend came after his release on bond. Fox News and Elkhorn Media Group reported he was then held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. The Bulletin reported he was booked back into the Deschutes County Jail at 11:50 p.m. Thursday by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Thursday was Oct. 15. KTVZ reported that after that booking he was being held without bail. The Bulletin reported Judge Wells Ashby increased bail to $1 million and ruled that Kumar broke the conditions of his release by leaving Oregon, even if it was against his will, and that his electronic monitor was removed. Lookout reported Ashby issued a nationwide warrant setting security at $1 million, which it said means 10 percent, or $100,000, would be required for release, and that a pretrial release hearing was scheduled for Oct. 23. Elkhorn Media Group reported the warrant followed a failure to appear that the court treated as involuntary, and it quoted Ashby: "The federal government effectuated his removal from Oregon," and, "There's no indication he willfully violated" his release conditions. Held without bail, a $1 million bail, and a 10 percent deposit on that bail are not the same custody status. This story does not have a later account of the Oct. 23 hearing.

Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels told the Bulletin on Monday, Oct. 19, "We are grateful that it now appears we'll be able to proceed to trial in January as scheduled." He told Lookout on Oct. 16 that the trial remained scheduled for January. KTVZ, writing that Friday, said the trial was scheduled for next January. Elkhorn Media Group reported the trial is scheduled for January 2027. ICE said that after the state case it will pursue Kumar's immigration case consistent with federal law. Elkhorn Media Group reported an immigration judge ordered his deportation in June. The Bulletin reported the order was signed in July, that an appeal was allowed through the end of July, and that none was filed. Lookout reported a deportation order was entered earlier this year. June, July, and earlier this year are three accounts of when that order was entered. ICE said Border Patrol apprehended him near Lukeville, Arizona, on Nov. 28, 2022, after he entered the United States from Mexico, and that he was placed in removal proceedings. Fox News and the Bulletin reported he later received a California commercial driver's license. At a Sept. 15 House Judiciary Committee hearing, Lookout reported, Carter said, "People born in our country deserve a fair trial if their life is lost, and having to fight and beg for that has been a great injustice and left me feeling betrayed by my government." ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Seattle acting Field Office Director Julio S. Hernandez said, "Two Americans lost their lives, and their families deserve accountability," and that Kumar was returned "to answer for the serious charges against him." Fox News rendered the name as Julio Hernandez and used a shorter form of the statement. The charges are pending. He has pleaded not guilty. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.