Miami

‘You Took Her From Me': Sister of Woman Killed in Sunrise Crash Confronts Driver

Matilde Perez, 60, was arrested Tuesday on one count of vehicular homicide and three counts of reckless driving in the February 27, 2020 crash that killed 41-year-old Clarice Toussaint

NBC Universal, Inc.

Nearly two years after a crash in Sunrise took the life of a Miami mother, police have arrested a woman on vehicular homicide and other charges in the incident.

Matilde Perez, 60, was arrested Tuesday on one count of vehicular homicide and three counts of reckless driving in the February 27, 2020 crash that killed 41-year-old Clarice Toussaint.

Perez appeared in bond court Wednesday, where there was an emotional exchange with Toussaint's family.

Broward Sheriff's Office
Matilde Perez

"I just wanted you to know what you took from me, and my dad and her kids as well," twin sister Clarine Toussaint told Perez as she fought back tears. "It definitely was just not an accident, you took her from me and you took her from my dad and her kids, I don’t know if I could ever forgive you for that."

Perez also appears to cry and then starts to apologize.

"I’m so sorry, I didn’t, I didn’t wake up that day…" she says before her attorney cuts her off.

"Matlide please don’t talk, don’t talk Matilde," the attorney says.

Nearly two years after a crash took the life of a Miami mother, police finally made an arrest. NBC 6's Marcine Joseph reports.

The crash happened on Northwest 44th Street at Pine Island Road in Sunrise.

Investigators said Perez ran a red light at the intersection and slammed into Toussaint's car, and had been going 11 mph over the speed limit a second before impact.

"It's more than just the speed, it's that she allegedly ran a red light that had been red for 26 seconds," Judge Tabitha Blackmon said during Wednesday's hearing.

Both women were injured in the crash, but Toussaint, a mother of two children, later died from her injuries.

“It wasn’t like we were born separate, we was born together," Clarine Toussaint told NBC 6. "So she is like the other half of my heart, and she took that away from me."

Police said the case was delayed due to the pandemic and the courts scaling down.

"You had all these days at home with your family for birthdays, holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, she missed her first grandchild, she missed her son's graduation," Clarine Toussaint told Perez.

Perez was given a $75,000 bond.

Contact Us