A movie star’s sister is facing charges for allegedly burning down her ex-boyfriend’s home, killing him and a female friend.
New York City prosecutors claim Aliya Fakhri, 43, the sister of actress Nargis Fakhri, arrived at the front door of a two-story detached garage behind her ex-boyfriend Edward Jacobs’ home at around 6.20am on November 2.
Fakhri, then allegedly yelled at Jacobs, 35, ‘You’re all going to die today.’
At that point, she allegedly set fire to the garage that he was converting into an apartment, according to the New York Post.
His friend, Anastasia ‘Star’ Ettienne, 33, was then alerted to the fire and initially tried to escape – but later returned upstairs in an attempt to wake Jacobs, who was still sleeping.
‘We smelled something sweet burning,’ a man who was living in the garage with Jacobs but managed to escape the fire unscathed recounted to the New York Daily News.
‘We ran out and the couch was on fire and we had to jump over it. We had to jump. I had to jump to get out.
‘Star jumped over it with me, but she went back to save [Eddie]. He was still groggy when she woke him up.’
Jacobs and Ettienne were then trapped inside as the flames spread, and died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
Meanwhile, Fakhri reportedly screamed ‘I don’t care if you die!’ as she fled the scene.
Aliya Fakhri is the sister of Nargis Fakhri, a noted Bollywood actress known in the US for starring in the 2015 film Spy, starring Jude Law, Jason Statham and Melissa McCarthy.
Friends and family members say the 43-year-old Queens resident was motivated to kill Jacobs after he spurned attempts to rekindle their relationship.
His mother explained that he had broken up with Fakhri about a year ago, but she still pursued him.
‘Like any other person that is being rejected, he was letting her know, like “Yo, I’m done with you. Get away from me,”‘ Jacobs’ mother, Janet, told the Post.
‘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,’ she added.
Sad-e Jean Baptiste, 26, also told the Daily News that Fakhri had threatened to kill Jacobs before.
‘She told a couple of people that next time she sees him with another girl, “I swear I’ll set him on fire,”‘ he claimed.
But Jacobs’ mother insists he and Ettienne were just friends.
Janet noted that her son leaves behind a set of 11 year old twins and another nine-year-old son, while Ettienne’s family demand justice.
‘She was a loving person who didn’t deserve this,’ the family wrote in an online fundraiser for her funeral expenses. ‘She died trying to save someone else.
‘Please help me get justice and to send her home the way she would have liked.’
Fakhri was ultimately arrested on November 26 and was indicted the next day by a grand jury on four counts of murder in the first-degree, four counts of murder in the second degree and one count each of arson in the first degree and arson in the second degree.
She faces a potential life sentence on the charges, and is due to return to court on Monday.