MINEOLA, N.Y. – A West Hempstead woman has been sentenced to up to nine years in prison for a 2021 high-speed crash that resulted in the deaths of two teenage passengers. Nylah Frazier, 20, pleaded guilty to two counts of Manslaughter in the Second Degree and two counts of Assault in the Second Degree in February and was sentenced today in Nassau County Court.
The tragic incident occurred on October 21, 2021, at approximately 1:00 a.m. Frazier was driving a BMW X3 northbound on Westminster Road in West Hempstead at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. She ran a red light, lost control of the vehicle, and crashed into the back of a parked dump truck. The impact was so severe that the BMW flipped, ejecting the two passengers from the vehicle.
Seventeen-year-old Amanda Arguinzoni and nineteen-year-old Kurtis Caesar were killed instantly. Arguinzoni was a senior at West Hempstead High School, and Caesar, a recent graduate of Cambria Heights Academy in Queens, worked for FedEx.
District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly commented on the devastation caused by the crash, stating, “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. 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.”
Following a thorough investigation, Frazier surrendered to Nassau County Police on July 20, 2022.
Judge Caryn Fink sentenced Frazier to three to nine years in prison.
