A Brooklyn driver who killed a mother and her two young daughters while barreling through a red light in March was sentenced Wednesday to three to nine years in prison. Miriam Yarimi, 33, pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree manslaughter in the deaths of 34-year-old Natasha Saada and her daughters, Diana, 8, and Deborah, 5, after admitting to running the light, slamming into another car, and plowing into the family as they used a crosswalk. Yarimi, found to be traveling 68mph in a 25mph zone, had a suspended license, a long record of traffic violations, and more than $12,000 in outstanding fines at the time of the crash, per the New York Times.
Prosecutors said she showed no sign of braking and was seen using her cellphone shortly before the crash, which also left Saada's 4-year-old son hospitalized with skull fractures and brain bleeding. The case sparked outrage in the city and renewed calls for tougher penalties on repeat traffic offenders, especially so-called "super speeders." Yarimi had more than 20 speeding tickets at the time of the crash, as well as six red light camera violations, per Spectrum News. The red light she'd sped through before striking the family had been at least the second of the trip, the outlet adds.
Yarimi's sentence was handed down by Judge Danny Chun in Brooklyn Supreme Court, who offered her a lighter sentence in exchange for her guilty plea. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez had recommended the maximum five to 15 years, arguing that Yarimi "cared about only herself" as she "wiped away nearly an entire family." His office had highlighted a jail phone call in which Yarimi said, per WNYW, "Why should I apologize? I'm as much as a victim as they are." Yarimi addressed the court briefly Wednesday, saying she thinks about the victims every day and "that's a punishment in itself." A lawyer for the Saada family said they were "outraged" that they weren't allowed to speak in court and view the sentence as too lenient.
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