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Trial Begins for Man Accused of Killing Pregnant Woman in Midtown Van Crash

By DNAinfo Staff on November 18, 2010 7:42pm  | Updated on November 18, 2010 7:03pm

Raynaldo Ramos, 29, testified Thursday about the death of his wife.
Raynaldo Ramos, 29, testified Thursday about the death of his wife.
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DNAinfo/Yepoka Yeebo

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The trial of a van driver who allegedly killed a pregnant woman as she was leaving work in Midtown in 2009 opened on Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The driver, Keston Brown, who was slowing down and speeding up so his passenger could "cat call" the victim, Ysemny Ramos, and her companion, was not only distracted but intoxicated and driving a vehicle with a host of mechanical problems, prosecutors said.

He lost control of the "ticking time bomb" vehicle and plowed into the two women, whom Brown and his passenger were harassing on March 27, 2009, at East 37th Street and Madison Avenue, prosecutors said.

Ramos's friend and co-worker at the Israel Berger & Associates architecture firm, Tassia Katsiambanis, survived, but sustained injuries.

"He pinned [Ramos's] body against a wall, crushing her and severing her in two," Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey said in opening statements at Brown's trial Thursday.

"Because of Keston Brown's intoxication, Ysemny Ramos never made it to the rest of the life she was supposed to have," she added.

Brown, 28, faces manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges for the death of Ramos, 29, a Brooklyn mother of three who was about to celebrate her third wedding anniversary the evening she died, prosecutors said.

"A babysitter was arranged for, a restaurant had been decided on," Lucey added.

Ramos's widower, Raynaldo, 29, briefly took the witness stand Thursday afternoon to identify a photo of his late wife taken at the morgue.

He testified that when she was late getting home from work that day, he figured his wife was picking up an anniversary gift — until the owner of her company called with the bad news. 

"I waited — I assumed she was stopping to get me something, or us something, or just putting something together."

Brown's lawyer, Patrick Watts, argued the fatal crash was not caused by Brown, who had been planning to take the van to an auto mechanic.

"He was trying to steer that car as best he can to where it wouldn't be a danger to others," the lawyer said.

Testimony will resume tomorrow in front of Judge Gregory Carro in Manhattan Supreme Court.