The driver accused of killing a mother and her two daughters as they crossed a street in Brooklyn last month has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
Miriam Yarimi, 32, of Midwood, entered the plea at her arraignment Wednesday, where she was indicted on charges including second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault, prosecutors said.
Natasha Saada, 34, and her daughters Diana, 8, and Deborah, 5, were killed in the March 29 crash, according to prosecutors. Saada’s 4-year-old son Philip, who was also hit, suffered serious injuries.
“In my over 25 years as a prosecutor in Brooklyn, this still remains one of the worst collisions that I’ve ever seen on a New York City street,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Wednesday. “We are going to do everything in our power to make sure that this reckless driver is held fully accountable under the law.”
Prosecutors said Yarimi, who was driving a 2023 Audi, turned onto Ocean Parkway in Gravesend and drove through a red light, smashing into a Toyota Camry that was waiting to turn right onto the parkway as the family crossed the street.
The impact pushed the Camry aside, while the Audi continued forward, striking the family before overturning, police said.
Yarimi was traveling at around 68 mph in a 25-mph zone at the time, according to the DA’s office.
Saada and her two daughters were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Her son, who suffered skull fractures and brain bleeding, also had to have a kidney removed, prosecutors said.
The 62-year-old Camry driver was in stable condition after the crash, police said, while four other passengers in the Camry — an adult and three children — suffered minor injuries.
Prosecutors said Yarimi was driving with a suspended license, but her attorney, Joseph Amsel, said he believes his client — who is also a mother — was not driving with a suspended license.
Amsel also said she has no prior criminal history and is not a violent person.
“I have reason to believe that her license was not suspended. I think that the charges under the circumstances, the 511 charge, is not going to stick, and quite frankly, the statements that have been made in the press about her being a scofflaw and having a number of traffic and moving violations, that is unfounded,” he said.
Publicly available information shows that a car registered to Yarimi has more than 20 speeding tickets, half a dozen red-light camera violations and dozens of other violations.
Yarimi, who is being held without bail, is set to appear in court again in June. If convicted, she faces a maximum of five to 15 years in prison.