FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Brooklyn Teenager Charged with Criminally Negligent Homicide
For Allegedly Causing Three Fatalities When Driving Recklessly
Victims, Ages 11, 16 and 18, Died When Two Vehicles Crashed
On a Decommissioned Runway in Floyd Bennet Field
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that an 18-year-old man has been indicted for criminally negligent homicide and related charges in connection with a deadly car crash that took place when two cars collided while racing on an abandoned runway. The victims included the 16-year-old driver of one of the vehicles, his 18-year-old girlfriend and her 11-year-old brother.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Three young lives were tragically cut short when this defendant allegedly t-boned the victims’ car as he attempted to do stunts at a high speed. This case highlights the incredible dangers of drag racing, and this kind of recklessness cannot be tolerated in Brooklyn. Our prosecutors will seek to hold them accountable, and my heart continues to be with the families of the victims as they grieve.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Tamirlan Abylknov, 18, of Homecrest, Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Craig Walker on an indictment in which he is charged with three counts of criminally negligent homicide and one count each of second-degree assault, unlicensed operator, excessive speed, second-degree reckless endangerment, and reckless driving. The defendant was ordered released without bail and to return to court on July 21, 2022. He faces a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison if convicted of the top count with which he is charged.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on July 11, 2020, at approximately 8 p.m., the defendant and a group of friends were on North 40th Runway in Floyd Bennet Field, a decommissioned airfield that is open to the public as part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. The defendant, who was 16 at the time, was driving a Toyota Camry and Emil Badlov, also 16, was driving a Kia Forte.
The two motorists were allegedly racing at high rates of speed and doing “donuts” and other stunts for a period of time before colliding. When the Camry, driving straight at a speed of about 70 mph, “t-boned” the Kia, Badlov, his girlfriend Margarita Sigdiyayeva, 18, and her 11-year-old brother Daniel Sigdiyayeva all died, and another 16-year-old occupant of the Kia was injured. The defendant and two passengers in his car, ages 18 and 11, suffered minor injuries.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Nocella, Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Street Safety Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney David Klestzick, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Trial Division.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.