iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Bollywood actress Nargis Fakhri’s (picture above) sister Aliya has been arrested by police in New York for setting a garage on fire and killing two people, including her former boyfriend, in the Jamaica neighbourhood.
As per an official news release from the office of Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz, Aliya Fakhri has been indicted on murder in the first degree and related charges for deliberately setting a deadly fire in the detached garage of a home in Jamaica killing her boyfriend, 35-year-old Edward Jacobs, and 33-year-old Anastasia Ettienne. Fakhri allegedly set the fire near the entrance of the building, trapping the two inside with no exit.
District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged in this indictment, this defendant maliciously ended the lives of two people by setting a fire that trapped a man and woman in a raging inferno. The victims tragically died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. Our condolences are with families of Edward Jacobs and Anastasia Ettienne as we prosecute this case.”
Fakhri, 43, of Parsons Boulevard in Queens, was indicted by a grand jury for four counts of murder in the first degree, four counts of murder in the second degree and one count each of arson in the first degree and arson in the second degree. Supreme Court Justice John Zoll arraigned the defendant today and remanded her.
She faces a potential maximum of life in prison if convicted of the top charge. Fakhri must return to court on December 9.
According to the charges and investigation, on November 2, Fakhri arrived at the front door of a two-story detached garage behind 172-27 91st Avenue at around 6:20 a.m. and yelled upstairs to 35-year-old victim Edward Jacobs, “You’re all going to die today.” Soon after, a witness who was inside the property came downstairs and discovered that the building was on fire. Ettienne was alerted to the fire and went downstairs briefly. The woman then returned upstairs in an attempt to save Jacobs, who was sleeping. The building became engulfed with flames and neither Jacobs nor Ettienne could escape.
Both Jacobs and Ettienne later died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
Assistant District Attorney Gabriel Reale of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau is prosecuting the case, with the assistance of Assistant District Attorneys Alexa Ornelas and Antonio Vittiglio, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys John Kosinski, Bureau Chief, Karen Ross, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.
(Photo courtesy: www.facebook.com/NargisFakhri)
