NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 06: NYPD officers respond to the scene of a shooting that left multiple people injured in the Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough on April 06, 2021 in New York City. So far this year New York City has seen a 40% rise in shootings over the same period in 2020. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The man accused of drunk driving and killing his fiancé and unborn child in a New York City car crash Saturday broke down in tears upon learning of their deaths.
Adem Nikeziq, 30, cried uncontrollably during his first appearance before a judge on Monday after his lawyer broke the news that his seven-months-pregnant fiancée, 23-year-old Adriana Sylmetaj, and unborn daughter were dead, according to the New York Post.
One grisly detail authorities told Nizekiq was that Sylmetaj had her unborn baby torn out of her body and thrown 40-feet in the drunken-driving crash that The Shade Room reported yesterday.
Zikeziq, who reportedly crashed early Saturday after “drunk driving” a Dodge Challenger at over 100 mph in Staten Island, had learned only minutes before court Monday that his fiancée and unborn child had died.
“No one told him that his fiancée and baby had passed,” Nikeziq’s lawyer, Mark Fonte, told The Post. “He found out minutes ago, just before he came out [into the courtroom]. When I told him, he broke down crying, sobbing. He was at first completely in disbelief.”
Nikeziq was brought into court in a wheelchair while wearing a hospital gown, and was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, vehicular assault and drunken driving in the deadly crash.
Sylmetaj was in the passenger seat when the couple’s speeding vehicle hit a barrier and a utility pole early Saturday.
The vehicle had been completely split in half, with human limbs strewn about the scene, prosecutors said.
“She was found at the intersection,” Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Agostino told Judge Raja Rajeswari. “Her severed leg was found 20 feet past her body. Her unborn child, ripped from her body, was found 20 feet past her leg.”
Nikeziq allegedly told responding officers that another driver cut him off before the fatal collision. Nikeziq’s lawyer attempted to downplay the situation, telling the court that “not every horrific accident rises to the level of criminality.”
“Not every horrific accident rises to the level of criminality,” Nikeziq’s attorney said.
However, prosecutors claim Nikeziq, with family in tow, had been speeding while weaving through traffic at around 4:45 a.m. when he lost control and crashed into a barrier.
Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Agostino added that the deadly crash followed “a night of drinking” for Nikeziq, according to The Post.
Prosecutors say the case will eventually be presented to a grand jury.
In the meanwhile, Judge Raja Rajeswarihas ordered Nikeziq held on $400,000 cash bail or a $700,000 bond.
Nikeziq is expected to return to court on Thursday.
