A Brooklyn woman who admitted responsibility for a horrific crash that killed a Flatbush mother and two of her young children was sentenced Wednesday to 3–9 years in state prison, a punishment the victims’ family says falls far short of justice.
Miriam Yarimi, 33, pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter for the March 29 tragedy that claimed the lives of 34-year-old Natasha Saada and her daughters Diana, 8, and Deborah, 5, A”H. The family’s 4-year-old son, Philip, was critically injured with skull fractures, brain bleeding, and the loss of a kidney, but Bichasdei Hashem, he later recovered.
According to investigators, Yarimi was driving more than twice the speed limit when she blew through a red light at Ocean Parkway and Quentin Road, struck an Uber vehicle, flipped, and then slammed into the Saada family as they crossed the street.
In court on Wednesday, Yarimi delivered an emotional statement, saying:
“I accept full responsibility for my actions… There’s a lot of sorrow and pain, remorse, regret I feel in my heart for causing such an unspeakable tragedy. I hope and pray that my guilty plea, as well as my sentencing here today, will provide some degree of closure… I’ll have to live with this for the rest of my life. I think about the victims every day.”
The Saada family was not present for the sentencing. Their attorney, Herschel Kulefsky, said the family was deeply frustrated that Yarimi could serve as little as three years despite taking three lives.
“They are quite disappointed — outraged would probably be a better word,” he said.
The Brooklyn DA’s Office had recommended the maximum: five to fifteen years behind bars.
Yarimi’s attorney, Joseph Amsel, defended the lighter sentence, telling reporters that his client should not be defined solely by “her worst moments,” and that she too has endured a “tragic story.” He emphasized that acknowledging her hardships does not minimize the devastation caused to the Saada family.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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9 Responses
Why was there no concerted effort by Midwood orthodox Jewry to be involved with this case throughout the proceedings? Perhaps a more dedicated and organized push by Midwood Jews could have resulted in a more realistic sentence for this murderer. Three to nine years for killing three innocent neshamos is a walk in the park. Why was Midwood orthodox absent and silent throughout?????
she should be locked up for life
She belongs in galus until the kohen gadol dies
She’s a Jewish girl too
The judge should be sentenced to life without parole.
We as Jews must live with Hashgacha Pratit השגחה פרטית, even though this is a secular court, Hashem was right there, and this was the sentence; should this have been a Beth Din, there probably wouldn’t have been any jail time at all, since it was a pure accident. If we had a Sanhedrin, the outcome would have been different, too, because of Chilul Shabbos without Hasroah and Shogeg on both. I assume she will move to Israel in Tzfat
Jewishmom123
“She’s a Jewish girl too”
So, that does not change the circumstance. Are you saying she should get off easy because she is Jewish?
It should make zero difference if she is Jewish or not to the law.
WiseSage- you could flood that court with as many people as you want but the law of New York state stays the same. The offense is not severe enough to get much more time in jail. Why that is is because of a corrupt system that favors crime
Gee, I wonder how this “Honorable Judge” came up with the three year sentence for someone who killed three people while drinking and driving after receiving 90 moving violations. It does not take a genius to figure out what happened here.