13 months after Indian student's death in hit-and-run in US, woman arrested

Police in the US took 13 months to arrest a 41-year-old woman driver in connection with a hit-and-run case that killed a 23-year-old Indian student in October last year. The student, Priyanshu Agwal, was close to finishing his master's degree in Connecticut, US. Mobile phone location, video footage, and DNA helped police put the case together against the driver, Jill Augelli.

Augelli, who killed Agwal last October, was arrested on November 18, 2024, and charged with one count of evading responsibility resulting in death.

The woman made a brief appearance in Connecticut court on December 2. After that, the court scheduled her next appearance for January 21, 2025.

Priyanshu Agwal was from Deoli in India and went to the US in 2022.

Agwal, who was pursuing a master’s degree in business analytics at the University of New Haven, was riding an electric scooter on October 18, 2023, when he was hit by Augelli, who did not stop after the accident and fled the scene. Agwal was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about a week later, according to the Hartford Courant.

An investigation was launched, and video footage of the crash showed that the vehicle involved was a Nissan Rogue.

Investigators were able to obtain the licence plate information and found the vehicle the next day in Naugatuck, Connecticut, with damage consistent with a collision.

Police said that Augelli was the registered owner of the vehicle and that investigators found evidence linking her to the crash, including GPS data from her cell phone carrier, which showed she was in the area of the collision when it happened. Forensic testing also showed that Agwal's DNA was on Augelli's Rogue.

Agwal's brother, Aman, who had previously graduated from the same university where his brother was studying and now works for a tech company in Idaho, attended a conference on Monday to discuss the arrest and the case.

Aman also spoke about the impact of his brother's death on him.

"I just want to say I miss my brother every day. I have missed him every day for the past 13 months or so, and very often, I feel alone without him," Aman said, as reported by the New Haven Register.