A Northern Virginia man is accused of intentionally driving into oncoming traffic during an argument with his girlfriend, killing her and her 5-year-old daughter.
Mustafa Nofel Aljazairi, 33, was driving northbound on Dumfries Road Wednesday with 33-year-old Dorothy Fontain and 5-year-old Empress Fontain in the car, Prince William County police and family said.
Aljazairi and Dorothy Fontain were arguing in the car when Aljazairi intentionally plowed their Chrysler 300 into a Chevrolet Suburban that was going the opposite direction, police said.
Dorothy and Empress Fontain died in the crash.
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The 46-year-old woman who was driving the Suburban was seriously injured, police said.
"We were just at her 5-year-old birthday party. [She was] just full of life and happy-to-be-happy type kid, and then that morning I had to say goodbye out of nowhere," Dorothy Fontain's brother Derek Cicheskie said.
Cicheskie said he went to the hospital to say goodbye to Empress.
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"It was, frankly, unbelievable. I didn’t think it was real. Once it all just settled in, the flood of tears just came. … definitely unexpected, to say the least," Cicheskie said.
Investigators said they found evidence suggesting the crash was not an accident.
Aljazairi was arrested Friday and charged with two counts of manslaughter and one count of malicious wounding.
His family visited the crash scene Monday. They declined an on-camera interview, but said Aljazairi is innocent and he lost control of the vehicle.
Police said Dorothy Fontain and Aljazairi were not wearing seatbelts, and Empress wasn't properly restrained in the car.
Dorothy Fontain had six children, and four of them were living with her in Woodbridge. The oldest two children live with their fathers, Cicheskie said.
Cicheskie said he's working to figure out care for his sister’s three boys.
"It's tough. Just trying to find them a good placement, a good home, a good future. Something that, you know, they’ve kind of been robbed of," he said.
