A wigmaker who admitted to fatally mowing down a Brooklyn mom and her two daughters will stand trial in a wrongful death lawsuit from the victims’ family — after a judge on Thursday rejected her long-shot bid to skirt responsibility for the crash.
Miriam Yarimi, 33, was found liable in the civil case by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Steven Mostofsky for the 2025 killings of Natasha Saada, 32, and her daughters, Diana and Deborah — ages eight and five — clearing the way for a jury to determine the money damages she must pay the family.
Mostofsky delivered his ruling during a hearing that came weeks after Yarimi filed a handwritten letter to the judge claiming a “medical emergency” caused her to lose consciousness for five seconds, sparking the deadly collision.
“Therefore, I am not liable for this accident,” she wrote.
Her lawyer, Laurence McDonnell, argued in court Thursday that his client also shouldn’t be held liable because she only pleaded guilty in a criminal case to manslaughter, and not to charges tied to bad driving.
Neither Yarimi — who is currently serving a 3- to 9-year prison sentence — nor the surviving victim family members were present in the courtroom.
Saada family lawyer, Herschel Kulefesky, slammed Yarimi’s side’s arguments fighting liability, on the grounds that her 2025 guilty plea in the criminal case forced her to face the music in the civil case.
“The case law is clear,” Kulefesky told the judge. “You can’t change your story. If you plead guilty, that’s it.”
McDonnell acknowledged Yarimi had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but said “the rest of the charges were dropped by the state.
“Therefore, there’s been no plea to negligent or intentional conduct as far as operation of the motor vehicle.”
Outside of court, Kulefesky said the Saada family were livid by Yarimi’s attempts to duck accountability.
“The family and everyone who saw that statement was outraged,” Kulefesky said.
The March 29, 2025, horror unfolded after Yarimi sped in her Audi A4 along Ocean Parkway at 70 mph before hitting an Uber, flipping her car, and careening into the Saadas as they were leaving Shabbat services.
Saada’s 4-year-old son Philip survived the ordeal but was seriously injured.
At the scene, Yarimi unleashed a hateful tirade on first responders as she claimed she was “possessed” and had “the devil in me,” officials claimed.
She also had a dubious driving record in her Audi that sported the plate “WIGM8KER” — amassing 93 traffic violations and driving with a suspended license the day of the crash.
Yarimi’s sweetheart plea deal allowed her to avoid a maximum sentence of 15 years, which she would have faced had she been found guilty at trial.
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