A Brooklyn man faces up to 25 years behind bars for the car crash that killed a 3-month-old girl and injured her parents at an intersection in the borough last month, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
Tyrik Mott, 29, of Crown Heights, was charged with first and second-degree assault, second-degree manslaughter, and other charges in related to the deadly crash as part of a 22-count indictment Thursday, Oct. 14, according to the DA’s office.
“This defendant allegedly drove in a shockingly reckless and criminal manner and destroyed a family in a matter of seconds,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “A young baby lost her life and her mother suffered life-altering injuries in a case of vehicular violence that simply cannot be tolerated.”
On the evening of Sept. 11, Mott allegedly sped the wrong way down Gates Avenue near Vanderbilt Avenue in Clinton Hill, breaking a red light and hitting another car, and both vehicles crashed into the family pushing their baby in a stroller in the crosswalk.
Three-month-old Apolline Mong Guillemin died from her injuries and her 33-year-old mom was seriously wounded, while her 36-year-old dad suffered only minor injuries, according to officials. The driver in the second vehicle was also hurt in the collision.
Mott then allegedly abandoned his car and fled to Atlantic Avenue two blocks away where he tried to carjack another vehicle, but cops caught up with him and arrested him.
Police had previously been chasing Mott for breaking a red light at “high speed” elsewhere, NYPD officials have said.
Mott was driving with a suspended license at the time and his car bearing Pennsylvania plates had racked up a staggering 160 traffic violations since mid-2017, 91 of them for speeding in school zones.
He was previously arrested in February for driving without a valid license, but a judge reportedly let him off the hook on the condition that he stay out of trouble.
The driver was arraigned Thursday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun and faces two-and-a-half decades in prison if convicted of the top count.
“We intend to now seek justice for little Apolline and will continue to aggressively prosecute unlawful drivers who show disregard for the rules of the road and for the lives of everyone using Brooklyn’s streets,” Gonzalez said.
Judge Chun set Mott’s bail at $150,000 cash or a $350,000 bond. The defendant is being held in custody for now but might make bail later Thursday, according to a DA spokesman, and he’s scheduled to come back to court on Nov. 30.
A lawyer for Mott did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story first appeared on amNewYork.
