Official: Woman Charged in NYC Crash That Killed Broadway Actress' Kid, Unborn Baby Found Dead

The woman charged in the Brooklyn crash that killed Broadway star Ruthie Ann Miles' young daughter and unborn child has died of an apparent suicide, a senior law enforcement official briefed on the case tells NBC 4 New York.

Dorothy Bruns, 44, was found dead in her Staten Island home Tuesday afternoon, the senior law enforcement official said. Authorities say pills and a note were found nearby.

Miles was walking with her friend and their two young children in Park Slope on March 5 when Bruns allegedly blew through a red light and plowed into the group, killing both children — Miles’ daughter, Abigail, and the friend's 1-year-old son, Joshua. All four were found on the pavement with various injuries.

Miles' unborn daughter initially survived the crash, but the actress miscarried a month before she was due. The loss was related to injuries from the crash. 

Bruns was eventually indicted in connection with the case; she was arrested at her Staten Island home May 3 on a 10-count indictment charging her with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault and other crimes. She had faced 15 years in jail. 

Bruns told police at the time she had medical issues — and though her license had been suspended she had not been criminally charged in the case until about two months after the crash. Prosecutors said she had suffered a seizure at the time of the collision, and had been driving in direct defiance of a doctor's orders following a hospitalization less than eight weeks prior. That hospitalization stemmed from yet another car crash — that time into a parked vehicle.

Local

East Harlem 5 hours ago

Woman found stabbed to death in her bathtub inside her East Harlem apartment: Police

Storm Team 4 9 hours ago

Expect another morning freeze on Thursday

Police are investigating Bruns' death, the senior law enforcement official said.