A California man has been charged with two counts of murder after his Tesla struck a stopped car at high speed, killing a mother and her young daughter. The December 2025 crash occurred on Highway 87 in Santa Clara County. Prosecutors say the driver was traveling well over the speed limit.
Zachary Chernicky, 31, was arraigned last Tuesday and remains in jail without bail. He faces significant prison time if convicted. His next court date is scheduled for Aug. 25.
The crash took place around 10 a.m. on Dec. 2, 2025. Chernicky's Tesla was clocked at 142 mph 15 seconds before impact and 102 mph at the moment it hit Ivana Balistreri's Lexus, which was stopped in traffic. Both vehicles caught fire, and Balistreri, 29, and her daughter Lilliana, who was nearly two, burned to death.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said the speed made the act equivalent to murder. "When someone is driving 140 mph, then the driver is the shooter and their car is the bullet," he stated.
A GoFundMe page for the victims' family described Balistreri and her daughter as "two bright, innocent, loving souls" taken too soon.
