Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
Julio Acevedo, left, who is accused of leaving the scene of an accident that killed a young couple and their son, was brought to Brooklyn on Thursday.
The suspect in a hit and run that killed a young pregnant woman, her husband and, later, their newborn son was returned to New York on Thursday and charged with three felony counts of criminally negligent homicide.
The suspect, Julio Acevedo, waived extradition at a brief Thursday morning hearing in Pennsylvania before a Lehigh County judge, and was later handed over to the New York police for the long drive to the 78th Precinct station house in Brooklyn.
At his arraignment in Criminal Court in Brooklyn late Thursday night, Mr. Acevedo was charged with criminally negligent homicide, as well as leaving the scene, excessive speed, assault and reckless driving, and the judge ordered him held without bail. The severity of the crash had led to calls — from many in the Orthodox Jewish community, to which the couple belonged, and beyond — for the police and prosecutors to aggressively pursue the driver of the BMW.
Gayle Damf, a Brooklyn assistant district attorney, said that based on Mr. Acevedo's criminal record, he could face anywhere from 15 years to life imprisonment if convicted.
Ms. Damf said that on the night of the crash, two witnesses saw Mr. Acevedo's vehicle speed around a fire truck. After the crash, she said, "They approached him. They asked if he was O.K." She continued: "He said he was fine." The witnesses then approached the vehicle of the couple, Raizy and Nathan Glauber. When the witnesses turned around, "he was gone," Ms. Damf said. The same witnesses later identified Mr. Acevedo in a police lineup.
A lawyer for Mr. Acevedo, Kathleen Julian, said that the crash "was an accident, a horrible accident." She added: "The facts are going to show it was an accident."
The police had arrested Mr. Acevedo on felony charges of leaving the scene, and earlier Thursday night, added an additional charge of first-degree vehicular manslaughter for the death of the boy, who was delivered prematurely immediately after the accident and died a day later. Prosecutors did not file that charge.
New York courts have examined the issue of an emergency delivery after an accident: in 2002, a Brooklyn court found a drunken driver who hit a pregnant woman could be charged with manslaughter in the death of her 8-month-old fetus that was delivered after the crash and died shortly after.
A charge of manslaughter, prosecutors with experience in this area said, generally requires the driver to have criminal intent or be intoxicated, as was the case in 2002.
"The law is, if the baby is born prematurely and the only reason the baby is born is from his actions, and then dies, he caused the death of that child," said Arthur L. Aidala, a criminal defense lawyer and former assistant Brooklyn district attorney. "All it takes is a breath" from the baby for it to be considered a live birth.
Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the chief medical examiner, said late Thursday that the couple's child died of "extreme prematurity" because of "blunt force injuries" sustained by Ms. Glauber during the accident.
Also on Thursday, the other driver in the crash spoke publicly for the first time at a news conference arranged by a taxi drivers' trade association.
Pedro Nuñez Delacruz, a veteran cabdriver, said he had no recollection of the crash that killed the Glaubers, both 21, who were in his car.
"Before the accident, there is nothing I can remember," he said.
The crash occurred just after midnight on Sunday on Kent Avenue as Mr. Delacruz turned from Wilson Street, which has a stop sign at the intersection.
"I know the area," Mr. Delacruz said. "I've worked in this area for 10 years. I do this five days a week. Of course I'm going to stop at a stop sign."
Ravi Somaiya contributed reporting.
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