ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (KGUN) — More than a year after a fatal highway crash claimed the life of a Tucson journalist, her husband says the case has stalled, even as those who knew her continue to remember the impact she had on their lives and her community.
Yui Umehara-Garewal was killed in December 2024 in a crash on Interstate 10 in California after another driver crossed the median and struck her family’s vehicle. Her husband, Jaz Garewal, and their two children survived the crash, but Garewal says Yui took the brunt of the impact.
“She made me a better person in that she was so caring. She had an open heart to everything,” Garewal said.
Friends say that open heart defined Yui’s life, both personally and professionally. She worked as a journalist and spent part of her career at the Arizona Daily Star, where those who knew her say she approached stories and people with curiosity, care and compassion.
“She’s that kind of person,” said close friend Brenda Harris. “She does make you feel like you’re the most important person in the world.”
Garewal said Yui had a way of making the people closest to her feel deeply valued, often in small, everyday moments he now finds himself missing.
“She always called me her best friend, but she said it in this way, like, ‘you’re my best friend,’ and I can still hear it,” he said. “Not hearing that almost every day was just something that at the time I honestly took it for granted.”
In Japanese, the name “Yui” means “to bind,” and friends say that meaning reflected how she lived, bringing people together and forming deep connections across her personal and professional life.
As the anniversary of the crash has passed, Garewal says the reality of the loss has grown heavier.
“It just creeped up in my subconscious that here we are, a year later, and this is reality,” he said. “Every morning is really hard for all three of us to get going. For me, it feels like gravity is heavier…just getting the inertia to get up and go.”
Garewal says his grief has been compounded by frustration with the criminal case. The driver involved was charged with a misdemeanor, and despite a warrant, law enforcement has not actively pursued the suspect, according to Garewal.
For Yui’s family and friends, the fight for accountability is about more than legal outcomes, it’s about ensuring her life and legacy are not forgotten.
“She was tiny and mighty,” Harris said. “And she just filled this world with effervescence and love.”
Yui would have turned 45 years old this year.
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Kenny Darr is a reporter for KGUN 9. He joined the team in January 2023. Before arriving in Arizona he was an Anchor and Reporter at KADN in Lafayette, LA. Share your story ideas with Kenny by emailing kenny.darr@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
