Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a West Hempstead woman pleaded guilty this morning to manslaughter and related charges for the death of two of her teenage passengers in a high-speed crash in October 2021.
Nylah Frazier, 20, pleaded guilty before Judge Caryn Fink to two counts of Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony) and two counts of Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony). The defendant is due back in court on May 22, 2024.
The defendant is expected to be sentenced to three to nine years in prison. The NCDA recommended a sentence of seven to twelve years in prison.
“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,” DA Donnelly said. “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.”
DA Donnelly said that, according to the charges, on October 21, 2021, at approximately 1:00 a.m., the defendant was driving a BMW X3 at a high rate of speed going northbound on Westminster Road in West Hempstead. The defendant ran a red light, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the back of a parked dump truck. The impact of the crash caused the vehicle to flip and eject two passengers. Passengers Amanda Arguinzoni, 17, and Kurtis Caesar, 19, were killed instantly.
Arguinzoni was a senior at West Hempstead High School, while Caesar was a recent graduate of Cambria Heights Academy in Queens and worked for FedEx.
After a lengthy investigation, the defendant surrendered to members of the Nassau County Police Department on July 20, 2022.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Tara DePalo of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau is prosecuting this case. The defendant is represented by Marc Gann, Esq.