NY driver who killed Jewish family was going almost 3 times the speed limit, DA says
Miriam Yarimi, also Jewish, arraigned for charges including second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide; mother and two daughters were walking home from synagogue
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
NEW YORK — A New York woman who killed a Jewish mom and her two children in a car accident late last month was driving at full throttle and more than twice the speed limit, the Brooklyn district attorney said on Wednesday.
Miriam Yarimi, 32, was arraigned in the Brooklyn Supreme Court for the accident that killed Natasha Saada, 34, and her daughters Diana, 8, and Deborah, 5, while they were walking home from synagogue in Brooklyn on Shabbat, March 29.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said in a statement that Yarimi was charged by the court with 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. It wasn’t an accident. This defendant’s unconscionably dangerous driving wiped out a family,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “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.”
Yarimi, a Jewish wig maker, is being held without bail and faces a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison. She had been hospitalized following the accident.
The district attorney’s statement included new information about the car crash that shocked New York City and local Jews.
BREAKING
Mom, her two kids mowed down in gruesome NYC collision by motorist with suspended license pic.twitter.com/aI2H2qivSe— Simo Saadi???????????????? (@Simo7809957085) March 29, 2025
Video surveillance showed Yarimi drive through a red light a block before the crash, narrowly avoiding other vehicles, before speeding north on Ocean Parkway in the Midwood neighborhood of south Brooklyn, an area with a large Jewish population.
At the next intersection, Saada was crossing the parkway while holding hands with her three children, as a Toyota Camry waited for the pedestrians to cross the street.
TikTok wigmaker Miriam Yarimi has been charged with manslaughter after fatal crash kills mom and two kids in Brooklyn
Yarimi was driving on a suspended license when she lost control and plowed into a crowd pic.twitter.com/hpR6H8MHJm
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) March 31, 2025
When the family was a couple of steps from the sidewalk on the other side of the street, Yarimi barreled through the intersection, struck the back of the Toyota and plowed through the victims. After hitting the family, Yarimi’s vehicle rolled over, stopping around 130 feet away. Her Audi came to a stop upside down and Yarimi had to be cut out of the vehicle. She suffered minor injuries.
The mother and her daughters were killed at the scene, while the woman’s 4-year-old son Philip suffered skull fractures, brain bleeding and needed a kidney removed. Five people in the Toyota sustained minor injuries.
Natasha Saada and her 2 daughters, Diana, 8, and Debra, 5, were killed by a driver as they were walking home from Shabbos services in Midwood.
My heart goes out to the family and the entire community. Please keep Philip in your heart, he is 4 years old and fighting for his life. pic.twitter.com/LEMPrYJYAq
— Justin Brannan (@JustinBrannan) March 31, 2025
Yarimi’s 2023 Audi was traveling at around 68 miles per hour in a 25 miles per hour zone, and the engine was at full throttle, indicating the gas pedal was likely pressed to the floor, the district attorney’s office said.
Saada and her daughters were flown to Israel and laid to rest in Jerusalem’s Har HaMenuchot cemetery.
The accident prompted an outpouring of grief in the Jewish community and among city leaders. Community members circulated calls for prayers, Brooklyn Jewish lawmakers mourned the deaths, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials visited the grieving father.
Before the accident, Yarimi posted photos online marking Shabbat, Jewish holidays including Purim and Passover, and wrote “Thank you Hashem” after winning a lawsuit against the NYPD earlier this year.
Her social media said she runs a wig store and she often shared photos of clients. Last year, she posted a photo of herself with a blue Audi that had the license plate “WIGM8KER.”
Yarimi had dozens of traffic violations on her record and was driving with a suspended license. The accident has spurred calls for legal reforms to crack down on “super speeders,” drivers with a high number of traffic infractions.
The Times of Israel Community.