Guilty Plea From Bronx Man Who Killed 4 In Taconic Parkway Crash

YORKTOWN, NY — The Bronx man accused of crashing his SUV on the Taconic State Parkway in 2015 killing one of his children and three people in another car admitted his guilt Friday in court to multiple charges. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. said that Nerim Sinanovic, 35, of Fish Avenue, pleaded guilty to the following:

• Four counts of criminally negligent homicide, felonies,
• Reckless driving, a misdemeanor
• Driving a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions, violation

Scarpino said that, on Aug. 15, 2015 around 2:50 p.m., Sinanovic was driving his BMW SUV northbound on the Taconic in Yorktown. His wife was in the front passenger seat and their two young daughters were in the rear seats. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

He told New York State Police that while driving northbound on the Taconic State Parkway he took his hands off the steering wheel, turned toward the back seat and steered with his knees. This caused the vehicle to veer to the right. Sinanovic’s wife then grabbed the wheel and the vehicle veered left and continued up and over the dividing center median between the north and southbound lanes.

The vehicle became airborne, police said, and crashed into a Toyota Camry which was traveling in the southbound lane. There were three family members in that vehicle at the time of the crash. Ledell Mulvaney, 61, and Katherine Mulvaney, 31, both of Brooklyn, sustained massive internal injuries and were pronounced dead within hours. Donald M. Mulvaney, 63, also of Brooklyn, died Sept. 15, 2015, at Westchester Medical Center.

Sinanovic’s children, a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old, who were both in child seats, were ejected from the vehicle. Two-year-old Leona Sinanovic was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two additional vehicles — a Ford Escape and an Acura RSX — were also struck. Those occupants sustained non-life threatening injuries.

A toxicology report indicated Nerim Sinanovic had a level of Xanax in his system over therapeutic levels at the time of the crash.

He will be sentenced on Jan. 24, 2018. Sinanovic faces a maximum of one and a third to four years in state prison.

Photo caption: Nerim Sinanovic. Photo credit: Westchester County District Attorney's Office.