Bensalem accident kills mom and daughter, but no jail time for driver who caused crash
A 23-year-old Levittown woman has been sentenced to probation and home confinement in a 2021 fatal accident that killed a Bensalem mother and daughter.
Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Finley sentenced Adyaan Zuhair Swad Al Baidhani on Jan. 29 to five years probation with the first eight months served on home confinement with electronic monitoring.
She was also ordered to pay $15,110 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service.
The sentence was part of a negotiated agreement where Al Baidhani pleaded guilty to two counts of involuntary, a first-degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum five-year prison sentence. Other charges against her in the October 21, 2021 accident were dismissed.
An initial charge of two counts of homicide by vehicle, a felony third degree, which carries a maximum seven years in prison were dismissed at a preliminary hearing in 2022.
Bensalem police had alleged Al Baidhani was driving 30 miles over the posted 35-mph speed limit when she crashed head-on into a car driven by Celene Serrato, 29, killing her and her mother, Rafaela Serrato, 53, who was her passenger.
They were returning home after picking up groceries for an upcoming wedding when the crash occurred, according to a family member.
The accident occurred when Al Baidhani was attempting to avoid striking another vehicle that cut her off on southbound Knights Road, police said.
She drove over the center turn lane and into the northbound lane, where she struck a 2003 Dodge Caravan driven by Celene Serrato, court documents allege.
The driver who Al Baidhani was trying to avoid — Juliana Ferreira-Rocha, 43, of Bensalem — was exiting the parking lot for Creekside Apartments, police said.
Police said that Ferreira-Rocha did not yield to oncoming traffic, did not stop to help at the scene of the crash, and did not call police.
Last year, she entered a guilty plea to a summary charge of not yielding at the roadway. She was sentenced to pay fines and testify if called.
A GoFundMe campaign set up by a Serrato family member to raise money for a memorial collected more than $27,500.
"This is was a very tragic day for the Serrato family and for all our related family seeing how both of them were a big part of our lives and both were amazing women," the post read. " ... "This loss was sudden & absolutely tragic but we would like to remember them and the good times when they were alive and with us. We will never forget them."
Justice for Joy Hibbs after 32 years Bucks County family waited over 30 years for justice in Croydon murder. 'Evil man' sentenced.
Trevose man charged in fatal hit & run Bensalem police make arrest in 2023 hit and run that killed teen
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Levittown woman sentenced in 2021 fatal crash that killed two people
