A Long Island woman agreed to plead guilty Thursday in the October 2021 BMW crash that killed her two teenage friends, while the family of those who died expressed outrage over the associated jail time.
Under the plea agreement, Nylah Frazier copped to manslaughter and assault in the violent West Hempstead crash in exchange for lesser jail time. The plea deal gives her three to nine years in jail. She had faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge she was arraigned on, which included two counts of second-degree manslaughter.
Frazier was 18 when she drove her BMW more than 100 miles an hour through a stop sign and slammed into a truck, according to prosecutors. Her two passengers -- Amanda Arguinzoni, 17, and Kurtis Caesar, 19 -- were thrown from the car on impact and died instantly, court records say.
At the time of their deaths, Arguinzoni was a senior at West Hempstead High School. Caesar had recently graduated from Cambria Height Academy in Queens and worked for FedEx.
When Frazier's lawyer tried to address the victims' families at Thursday's plea hearing, shouts of anger echoed through the courtroom. The two families had to be separated by court officers.
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The district attorney was clear on where she stood.
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"Two young people – 17 and 19 years old – were killed when this defendant blew through a red light at more than 100 miles an hour and crashed her BMW SUV into a parked dump truck," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. "Amanda Arguinzoni and Kurtis Caesar had their entire lives in front of them and lost those lives in an instant due to the selfish and reckless actions of Nylah Frazier. It is a miracle that no one else lost their lives that evening. We continue to express our condolences to the Arguinzoni and Caesar families."
Frazier left court free on bail until her May sentencing.
