The Brooklyn driver accused of killing a mother and her two children in Gravesend last month when she hit them with her car has been indicted for manslaughter, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Miriam Yarimi, 32, was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court on April 16 on charges stemming from the fatal crash on March 29 that killed 34-year-old Natasha Saada and her two daughters, Diana, 8, and Deborah, 5. Saada’s 4-year-old son also suffered severe injuries as a result of the incident, according to police and court papers.
Yarimi, who was driving with a suspended license, faces multiple counts of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault and other related counts.
“This horrific fatal crash was one of the worst I’ve seen in over 25 years as a prosecutor,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. “It wasn’t an accident. This defendant’s unconscionably dangerous driving wiped out a family. The consequences of her flouting traffic laws and commonsense were disastrous, and we will now seek to hold her fully accountable for this criminally reckless behavior.”
According to the investigation, Yarimi allegedly sped through a steady red light at around 1 p.m. before crashing into an Uber, violently pushing it aside, before plowing her 2023 Audi through the family as they held hands crossing Ocean Parkway.
Video surveillance shows her car driving straight through a red light a block before the crash, narrowly avoiding other cars and continuing north on Ocean Parkway.
The defendant’s car flipped over after the impact. According to the district attorney’s office, the Audi was traveling full throttle — suggesting the gas pedal was floored — at about 68 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.
Saada and her two girls were killed at the scene. Her son suffered skull fractures and brain bleeding and had a kidney removed, court papers stated. The Uber — a Toyota Camry — carried five passengers who sustained minor injuries.
The defendant sustained minor physical injuries as a result of the crash.
Yarimi was ordered held without bail and is expected back in court on June 11. She faces a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top count of second-degree manslaughter.
A version of this story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site AMNY
