A woman standing behind her wheelchair was thrown through the air and into a parked car when two vehicles collided on a busy South Florida road in 2023.
More than three years later, video of that violent collision is part of the case against the driver accused of leaving the scene.
Sarah Castro suffered a traumatic brain injury and spinal fracture after the Jan. 30, 2023 crash in Lauderdale Lakes. She later died.
Now Stephanie A. Magri is on trial in Broward County, and her defense is pressing on one central point: Magri’s lawyer says she left without realizing Castro had been struck.
Caught In Motion
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The crash happened in the 3300 block of North State Road 7.
Local 10 reported that Magri was driving a silver Honda Accord when it collided with a white Tesla Model 3. The Tesla then struck Castro, who was behind her wheelchair.
Video shows Castro being launched into a blue Ford Mustang parked nearby.
Fire rescue personnel took her to Broward Health Medical Center. She was treated for a traumatic brain injury and spinal fracture before her death.
Prosecutors say Magri left the crash on foot.
What She Knew
Magri’s attorney, Matthew Karim, acknowledged to Local 10 that his client left the scene, but disputed that she knew Castro had been hit.
“She had no idea,” Karim said.
That distinction is at the center of the defense as prosecutors pursue a case that includes a charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death.
Magri was arrested in July 2023. She pleaded not guilty the following month to leaving the scene of a crash involving death, failure to remain at the scene of an accident, and driving while her license was revoked.
Broward County Circuit Judge Andrew Siegel is presiding over the trial.
Eleven Days Earlier
Magri had faced another driving-related criminal case less than two weeks before the crash.
A separate Broward County court docket lists her arrest by Coconut Creek police on Jan. 19, 2023 — 11 days before Castro was hit.
The docket lists one charge as “Drive While Lic Susp Habi,” classified as a third-degree felony, along with an unlawful-speed charge. Arrest paperwork was filed with the court the following day.
Local 10 also reported that prosecutors say Magri had four previous convictions for driving with a suspended license, dating to 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2022.
Her trial over the Lauderdale Lakes crash remained underway Thursday.