Actor Nargis Fakhri and sister Aliya Fakhri.
'Rockstar'-fame actor Nargis Fakhri has not been in touch with her sister Aliya Fakhri, who has been arrested on charges of murdering her former boyfriend and his friend in New York, for more than 20 years, sources said on Tuesday.
Nargis Fakhri, who is elder to Aliya Fakhri, is yet to make any official statement on the case. Their mother has denied the charges against her daughter, saying, "I don't think she would be killing someone. She was a person who was caring for everybody. She tried to help everybody," according to multiple news outlets.
The alleged double murders took place in Queens, New York, on Monday.
According to the Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, Aliya Fakhri set a two-storey garage on Monday, when her former boyfriend Edward Jacobs (35) and his friend, Anastasia Ettienne, were asleep.
Aliya Fakhri arrived at the garage and yelled "you're all going to die today", before setting the building on fire. Ettienne, who was alerted by the fire, ran downstairs to check before going back up to wake up Jacobs. By this time, the fire had covered the entire building and the two couldn't escape. They died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
Meanwhile, a witness came out hearing Aliya Fakhri's voice and found that the building was set on fire, Ms Katz said.
Aliya Fakhri has been charged with four counts of murder in the first degree and four counts of murder in the second degree. She has also been accused of arson by a grand jury. She faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted of the top charge, the attorney said.
The accused is in police custody and is scheduled to appear before the court on December 9.
"As alleged in this indictment, this defendant maliciously ended the lives of two people by setting a fire that trapped a man and woman in a raging inferno. The victims tragically died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries," Ms Katz said.
Jacobs had broken up with Aliya Fakhri about a year ago but she couldn't take the rejection, his mother Janet told the New York Post. She said her son was a plumber and was working on a project to convert the garage into an apartment.
The witness in the case claimed Aliya Fakhri and Mr Jacobs were in an "abusive relationship", and that the woman had previously threatened to burn her former partner's house.