An overturned auto in a car crash flipped on its roof landing on a mother and her three children, killing two children on March 29, 2025, in Brooklyn, New York. The family was crossing the street when the crash happened. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect.

A Brooklyn woman was indicted on reckless manslaughter and other charges on Wednesday for a car crash late last month that killed a Jewish mother and her two children who were crossing the street on Shabbat.

Miriam Yarimi, 32, was arraigned on Wednesday by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment that charged her with multiple counts of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault, and other related counts. The resident of Midwood, Brooklyn, was ordered held without bail and her next court date is set for June 11. She is facing a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison if convicted for the fatal car accident that took place around 1 pm on March 29.

Yarimi pleaded not guilty during her first in-person court appearance on Wednesday. Earlier this month, she appeared in court virtually from her room in NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where she was undergoing a psychological evaluation.

“This horrific fatal crash was one of the worst I’ve seen in over 25 years as a prosecutor,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “It wasn’t an accident. This defendant’s unconscionably dangerous driving wiped out a family. 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.”

Gonzalez said video surveillance shows Yarimi drove her car through a steady red light a block before the crash, “narrowly avoiding other cars,” before she approached the site of the car accident at the intersection of Ocean Parkway and Quentin Road. Yarimi was also going almost triple the speed limit before she crashed her car into an Uber that was waiting for four Jewish pedestrians to finish crossing the street. When the Jewish family was just “a step or two from the sidewalk,” Yarimi’s car sped through the intersection against the light, smashed into the back of the Uber and plowed through the victims as her car rolled over, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said. According to evidence obtained from the black box, Yarimi’s car was traveling at about 68 mph – in a 25-mph speed zone – “was at full throttle (suggesting the gas pedal was floored) and zero brake was applied.”

Natasha Saada, 34, and her daughters – eight-year-old Diana and five-year-old Deborah – were killed at the scene. Her four-year-old son Philip suffered serious injuries, including skull fractures and brain bleeding, and also had a kidney removed. He is in a medically induced coma and “is still fighting for his life,” Gonzalez told reporters outside of the courtroom on Wednesday after Yarimi’s indictment was announced. The Uber had five occupants – the Uber driver, a mother, and her three kids – all of whom sustained minor injuries. Yarimi’s car was upside down and had to be cut to get her out. The single mother, who is also Jewish, suffered minor physical injuries.

At the time of the crash, Yarimi was driving with a suspended license. Her car also reportedly had 99 parking and camera violations between August 2023 and March 2025, including 21 speed camera tickets and five red light tickets.