A horrifying crash in New York City caused the tragic deaths of a mother and her two daughters, ages 8 and 5, on Saturday, March 29. A woman named Miriam Yarimi, a wigmaker, who allegedly hit the family with her vehicle, has been charged with manslaughter. A four-year-old boy who is also the victim’s child is in severe condition at a local hospital.
According to PEOPLE, the incident occurred on Ocean Parkway in Broadway at about 1:04 p.m. on March 29. According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), Natasha Saadaher and her two kids, Diana (8 years old) and Deborah (5 years old), were struck and killed while walking.
According to authorities, Miriam Yarimi, the driver of the Audi, first collided with a 63-year-old man driving a 2023 Toyota Camry. Authorities accuse Yarimi of striking the family while they were walking on Ocean Parkway, resulting in the first crash. When emergency personnel came, they took Saadaher and her children to Maimonides Medical Center. Regrettably, they pronounced Saadaher, Diana, and Deborah dead. The four-year-old is currently in critical condition.
Miriam Yarimi was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn with the 63-year-old Toyota Camry driver. They were both stable. Four additional passengers in the Camry were transported in stable condition, including a 35-year-old man and three children aged 4, 5, and 12.
Charged
According to the New York Post, Yarimi faces three counts of second-degree manslaughter, three counts of criminally negligent murder, and four counts of second-degree assault. She is also facing charges for reckless driving, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, failure to yield at a red light, and speeding.
According to How’s My Driving NY, she has received 99 traffic tickets since 2023.
During a press conference, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the occurrence as a “horrific tragedy.”
“I will call it like it is. This was a horrific tragedy caused by someone who shouldn’t have been on the road,” Tisch said. “A mother and two young children killed. Another child fighting for his life. A family and a neighborhood devastated.”
Similarly, New York City Mayor Eric Adams characterized the occurrence as a “tragic accident of Shakespearean proportion.”
“To see a mother and her two children lost to a vehicle crash, this is extremely concerning and painful,” Adams said. “A mother gone for a simple stroll on a sunny day was struck and killed. The city mourns this loss. I cannot imagine the pain of the family.”
