Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a West Hempstead woman was sentenced today to up to nine years in prison for the death of her two teenage passengers in a high-speed crash in October 2021.
Nylah Frazier, 20, pleaded guilty before Judge Caryn Fink on February 8, 2024, 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 was sentenced today to three to nine years in prison. The NCDA recommended a sentence of seven to twelve years in prison.
“Nylah Frazier recklessly careened through a red light at more than 100 miles per hour and slammed into a parked dump truck with such force that her BMW flipped and ejected her friend, 17-year-old Amanda Arguinzoni and 19-year-old Kurtis Caesar. The teenagers were killed instantly in the crash,” said DA Donnelly. “Two families are forever heartbroken having lost these bright, young lives and all that their futures promised. Our thoughts remain with the Arguinzoni and Caesar families at this most difficult time.”
DA Donnelly said that, 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 from the vehicle. 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.