A Staten Island man who cops say killed one of his pals in a 112 mph BMW drag-racing crash is behind bars alongside his mother — after the two tried to flee the country by way of Miami, authorities said.
Alvi Limani, 20, ditched the scene of the deadly New Jersey crash on June 25 and left one of his passengers to die, then went on the lam for 2½ weeks, prosecutors allege. Cops with the North Miami Police Department caught him and his 42-year-old mom, Vilma Vneshta, on July 17.
His mom got him a Florida ID, a same-day passport and tickets for the two of them to Tirana, Albania, where she still has roots, according to a criminal complaint.
“We want justice for my nephew. We want to see them both in jail,” Parim Murati, the uncle of 19-year-old crash victim Albion Hysenaj, told the Daily News Wednesday. “We probably would have felt differently if he wouldn’t have left. Him running and leaving him there, which was, I think that was, that was more upsetting than anything else.”
Limani was driving a BMW X3, with 19-year-old Emily Harrington in the front passenger seat, and Hysenaj and a fourth passenger, 20, in the back, going south on the Garden State Parkway in Clark Township that night.
Murati said his nephew and Limani had been friends for a few months, and the group had spent the day at a cliff overlooking the water somewhere in New Jersey where they liked to jump from. Harrington and Limani were dating, he said.
“They went there just to go, you know, go swimming for the day. What led to the race? I couldn’t tell you,” Murati said.
Around 7 p.m. Limani and Harrington issued a verbal challenge to the driver of another BMW on the road, Jeter Ogando, 23, of Perth Amboy, who was driving a BMW M5, according to criminal complaints filed by the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office.
Limani’s dashcam caught the challenge, and they were off, according to the complaints — never mind Limani’s revoked license.
During the race, Limani struck a white Ford Explorer, sending the SUV into Ogando’s BMW, the complaints allege. Limani’s BMW then veered off the road, rolling over several times before landing in the brush and weeds. Hysenaj and the other rear passenger were thrown from the vehicle, and Limani and Harrington took off, prosecutors said.
His car went more than double the 55 mph speed limit on the parkway just five seconds before the crash, prosecutors said.
Police learned that a woman with injuries consistent with a crash and a man accompanying her flagged down a nearby resident, who got her in touch with a family member to pick her up, the complaints allege.
Investigators talked to the surviving passenger who didn’t run off, only identified as J.D. in court documents, to get Limani’s name, prosecutors said.
“If the scenarios were vice versa, my nephew wouldn’t have left. He would have stood there with him the entire time. He was one of a kind,” Hysenaj’s uncle said.
Limani made it as far as Florida, but police captured him and his mother before he could catch a flight out of the U.S. He’s wearing a neck brace and has a blood-shot eye in his Miami mugshot.
The pair were returned to New Jersey Aug. 6, and remain locked up in Middlesex County Jail until a detention hearing Friday. Video posted on TikTok shows them led off a United Airlines plane in handcuffs, accompanied by police.
Hysenaj grew up on Staten Island and lived with his sister and mother in Bay Terrace, Murati said. He was home-schooled and had just gotten his high school diploma, and showed a proficiency with computers, his uncle said.
“He was building his own computers, doing programming and stuff like that. And it’s not something that he learned in school or in college. It’s just just learning from YouTube and just figuring things out on his own,” Murati said. “He had just graduated high school and he was still figuring it out, figuring out what he wanted to do.”
Murati described his nephew’s beaming smile and curiosity about the stars: “He approached life with a sense of wonder that was truly inspiring. Albion had a gift for making those around him feel special,” Murati said. “I’ll never forget the way he would greet everyone with a hug and a smile that could brighten up anyone’s day.”
Limani is charged with a slew of offenses, including aggravated manslaughter, vehicular homicide and knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, while his mother faces hindering charges.
Police have also charged Harrington with hindering, obstruction and conspiracy to endanger another, and Ogando with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and endangering. Both have been released pending trial.
“Emily maintains her innocence and we look forward to our court date, Harrington’s lawyer, Brett Rosen, said. Vneshta and Ogando’s lawyers didn’t return a message seeking comment, and Limani’s lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment.
Originally Published: August 13, 2025 at 11:47 AM EDT
