Inset: Julius Bernstein (Miami-Dade Corrections). Background: The Infiniti G35 that Bernstein hit at nearly 100 mph, causing it to burst into flames and killing three people (WPLG).
A Florida man will spend more than 40 years in prison after he killed a mother and her two teenage daughters in a fiery hit-and-run crash when he was driving nearly 100 mph in a 30 mph zone.
Julius Bernstein, 27, on Friday was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the deaths of Cynthia Orsa Telliz and her two daughters, 15-year-old Sophia Saidi and 12-year-old Maria Saidi, in North Bay Village, which is near Miami. A jury in September convicted him of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crash causing death.
Bernstein on June 27, 2022, was blazing in his Dodge Charger at 109 mph on the John F. Kennedy Causeway in Miami. He slowed down to about 97 mph when he collided with Telliz”s vehicle, a probable cause arrest affidavit said. Telliz was trying to make a left-hand turn and her Infiniti G35 erupted in flames after impact.
First responders rushed to the scene and tried to rescue the victims. They were able to pull out Telliz, but could not reach her daughters.
“They burned alive,” cops wrote in the affidavit.
Bernstein never bothered to try to help or call 911. Instead, he ran away, leaving a blood trail from his injuries. Authorities issued an arrest warrant following the crash and took him into custody in North Carolina in 2023.
Samir Saidi, Telliz’s husband and the father of the two girls, addressed the court during sentencing.
“My family — their lives were taken from me,” he said, according to a courtroom report from local ABC affiliate WPLG. “I cannot forgive this individual.”
Telliz’s brother, Omar Orstelliz, said he often thinks about the brutal way in which his sister and nieces died.
“Being left alone in their final moments is something we live with every day,” he reportedly said.
