A New York City woman was indicted last week for setting a fire in Queens that killed her ex-boyfriend and another person earlier last month.
Edward Jacobs, 35, and Anastasia Ettienne, 33, died in the "raging inferno" on November 2, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement announcing the indictment of 43-year-old Aliya Fakhri - sister of actress Nargis Fakhri.
A queens grand jury charged Aliya with four counts of first degree murder, four counts of second degree murder, one count of first degree arson, and one count of second degree arson, Katz said.
Fakhri Said 'You're All Going to Die Today' Before Setting the Garage on Fire
Katz said that Aliya arrived at the front door of a two-storey detached garage at about 6:20 a.m. on November 2 and directed a threat to Jacobs, who was sleeping inside, yelling, "You're all going to die today." Aliya then followed up on her threat and set the garage on fire.
After Ettienne became aware of the fire, she raced upstairs to save Jacobs who was sleeping, prosecutors said. But the garage quickly became engulfed in flames and the pair was unable to escape.
A witness came downstairs and saw that the building was on fire. Etienne came downstairs briefly but went back up to wake up Jacobs. Neither were able to escape and the flames engulfed the building. Both died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
Jacobs' Mother Said Her Son Broke Up with Fakhri a Year Ago But She was Still 'Pursuing' Him
Jacobs' mother, Janet, told The New York Post that her son and Aliya broke up about a year ago but she was still pursuing him. She also said that Ettienne and Jacobs were platonic friends.
"Like any other person that is being rejected, he was letting her know like 'Yo, I'm done with you. Get away from me,'" said the 54-year-old parent. "He's been trying to tell her to leave him alone for the past year, but she wasn't accepting the rejection. They broke up a year ago."
Jacobs was a plumber working to convert the detached garage into an apartment, the mother said. He was a loving dad of three boys, 11-year-old twins and a 9-year-old.
Aliya was ordered held without bond on Wednesday. Her next court date in December 9. She could face life in prison if found guilty on the top charge.
Aliya Had Become Mentally Unstable After Suffering from an Opioid Addiction
Aliya's sister, Nargis, is a former two-time contestant on America's Next Top Model and a much-loved Bollywood film star with 16 million followers on Facebook.
Nargis Fakhri's film breakthrough came with a starring role in 2011's Rockstar, a Hindi-language musical drama in which she portrayed the love interest of the title character. In 2015, she appeared alongside Melissa McCarthy in Spy as assassin Lia and the two were nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight.
The mother hasn't seen her younger daughter in the last three years — and says Aliya became unstable due to an opioid addiction that began after a dental mishap. A procedure to treat a tooth infection about 10 years ago at a local hospital left Aliya unable to move her tongue, her mother said.
"She had a tooth pulled and it cut the nerve," said the mother, who asked not to be named. "She sued and she won the lawsuit after three years and in the meantime she got hooked on Oxycontin."
