An Oregon mother shared the heartbreaking loss of her son and his newlywed bride to a commercial truck driver who was in the U.S. illegally with congressional lawmakers Tuesday. Elizabeth Carter, a resident of Springfield, Oregon, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement as it examined immigration policies in “sanctuary states” like California, Oregon and New York.
Carter told lawmakers her son, William “Billy” Micah Carter, 25, and his wife, Jennifer “Jenny” Lynn Lower Carter, 24, were killed just 16 days after their wedding. After their marriage on Nov. 8, 2025, at a Portland temple, Carter told lawmakers that Billy and Jenny attended a second reception in Jenny’s hometown of Preston, Idaho. On the evening of Nov.
24, 2025, Carter said they were driving back toward Billy’s family home in Oregon when their Subaru struck a semi-truck that had jackknifed across both lanes of U.S. Highway 20 near Brothers, east of Bend. The couple and their cat died at the scene.
According to Carter, the truck driver, who was later identified by Oregon State Police as Rajinder Kumar, a 32-year-old Indian national living in the U.S. illegally and who spoke no English yet obtained a commercial driver's license in California, failed to use warning lights, flares, or cones at the scene before the fatal crash.
“He does not speak, read, or write English or Spanish, those are the only languages the test is given in California,” said Carter. "Since Mr. Kumar does not speak English, he has not spoken with the officers that arrested him about anything, really.” According to federal authorities, Kumar entered near Lukeville, Arizona, in November 2022 and was released pending immigration proceedings. He later received work authorization and a commercial driver’s license issued by California.