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Maher Asi-Mahmoud, of Marlboro, was turning left in an eastbound 2017 GMC Yukon when it collided with a westbound Ford Mustang, carrying the teens Sunday, July 10, police said. The Mustang was sent into a tree on impact and split in half, ejecting two of the occupants.
The victims were identified as 16-year-old Fernanda Gil, 15-year-old Jessie Gil and 15-year-old Ashley Rodriguez. The driver, 16, was the only one expected to survive, and he remains at Staten Island University Hospital North.
The Mustang had apparently been traveling at an "unsafe speed," and some occupants may not have been belted, DOT Commissioner Yydanis Rodriguez tells abc7.
Asi-Mahmoud was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Fernanda and Jessie were siblings, and Ashley was a family friend, according to a GoFundMe page launched for the Gil family. A separate campaign was launched for Ashley's family.
"Fernanda was the most kind hearted , thoughtful , most caring person I’ve ever known," Jacqueline Nicholas writes on the campaign.
"She had a beautiful soul and was always upbeat. Her and her brother were always so close and had an unbreakable bond. Jessie was a shy person but yet very funny at times as well as Ashley."
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