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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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Driver Arrested in Hit-and-Run That Killed Mom and Hurt Daughter, NYPD Says

QUEENS — The man arrested for killing a mom and critically injuring her daughter in a drunk driving hit-and-run accident has a history of driving drunk and was found boozing on his porch Tuesday morning, officials said.

Jairam Budhu, 58, was driving 65 mph in a 25 mph zone north up 115th Street minutes after 5 p.m. when started swerving in and out of traffic before blowing through a stop sign at 130th Street and hitting the passenger's side of a Toyota Corolla carrying Zaalika Rasool, 40, her 9-year-old daughter and two other men, prosecutors said.

Rasool and the girl were flung from the back seats and into the road, knocking them unconscious, according to NYPD officials and the Queens District Attorney.

Budhu, of College Point, fled the scene on foot once his BMW X5 slammed into three parked vehicles and came to a full stop, police said.

Rasool was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Her daughter was initially listed in critical condition and was still being treated at Long Island Jewish Medical Center on Wednesday, prosecutors said.

A 47-year-old man who was in the SUV with Budhu was treated at Jamaica Hospital, police said.

Investigators caught up to Badhu on Tuesday morning when someone called police on him for drinking alcohol on his front porch at 8:30 a.m., prosecutors said.

Budhu was charged Tuesday with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, driving without a license and leaving the scene of an accident causing injury and death, police said.

He hadn't been arraigned as of Wednesday afternoon, prosecutors said.

Badhu was arrested for driving while under the influence on July 19, 2012, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty and was fined $500 or higher, prosecutors said.

Three days later, on July 22, he was arrested for an open container violation, an NYPD spokesman said.

His license was suspended for failing to pay a driver's responsibility assessment on May 19, 2016, prosecutors said.

Badhu faces up to 15 years behind bars if he's convicted, prosecutors said.