'Pointing fingers ... doesn't help or heal,' says mom of Sarah Erdan, killed by speeding driver

The mother of 13-year-old Sarah Erdan came forward Tuesday to defend the speeding teen driver who killed their daughter.

"He has been devastated by what has happened," said Pam Erdan, the Borough Park mom who lost her daughter Oct. 3 when 16-year-old Eric Hakimisefat crashed a minivan into a house.

Hakimisefat sat with the devout Orthodox Jewish family every day of shiva, she said.

"He is a respectful, responsible and devoted person," Erdan said. "We embrace Eric and his family's pain and suffering as part of our own."

Sarah was riding in the Honda Odyssey minivan with her older brother, Yossi, and his friend, Hakimisefat, whose junior driver's permit required an adult to be in the front passenger seat.

Police estimated the minivan was going at least 63 mph - twice the speed limit - on E. 23rd St. in Midwood when it crashed.

Hakimisefat, who was not seriously hurt, was charged as an adult with criminally negligent homicide.

Pam Erdan said all the court's punishments won't mend her broken heart.

"Pointing fingers and blame does not help or heal," she said. "Accidents happen, even terrible and traumatic ones."

Instead, she looks to God for healing.

"We have our beliefs to strengthen and comfort us as we try to accept God's will," she said.