On January 29, 2025, a Dallas County jury found 24-year-old Diamond Lynae Brown guilty of Manslaughter and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon in connection to a November 10, 2023, crash that killed 24-year-old Zainab Monsoori and seriously injured Fatima El Adel. Brown was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
The crash occurred on Interstate 635 Westbound in Irving when Brown drove the wrong way into oncoming traffic. Evidence presented at trial showed that she had ingested marijuana twice that morning before getting behind the wheel. Witnesses testified that Brown crisscrossed multiple lanes of traffic and continued driving the wrong way for over half a mile before the collision.
According to airbag control module data, Brown accelerated in the final five seconds before impact, reaching 88 miles per hour. She was not wearing a seatbelt and made no attempt to brake or avoid the crash. The head-on collision was so severe that both vehicles' engines were ripped out.
Monsoori, a passenger in the victim vehicle, died at the scene. Her family had fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban during the U.S. war in Afghanistan. The driver, Fatima El Adel, suffered serious injuries requiring multiple surgeries.
Several Good Samaritans stopped to assist after the crash, and many testified during the trial. Brown initially told Irving Police officers that she had deliberately driven the wrong way to cause a fatal crash, attempting to commit suicide.
The jury returned a guilty verdict on both charges with deadly weapon findings, and Brown was sentenced to 19 years in prison. The Irving Police Department led the investigation.
