In a sad case of tragic irony, a 34-year-old filmmaker struck and killed by a driver who blew a red light in Brooklyn last Sunday was the son of a famous Dominican documentarian — who was also killed in a car accident seven years ago, according to a family friend and news reports.
Arturo Báez Cordero, son of prominent filmmaker Fernando Báez Mella and Dominican singer Maria Cordero, followed in his father’s footsteps, launching a career in film as part owner of his production company, Unicornio Films.
Báez Cordero later founded his own production company in New Jersey with his actress wife, Lia Lizardo, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“This is a young guy who had a lot of dreams. And [his life] was cut short. A lot of dreams,” said a family friend, who declined to give his name. “This is one of the most difficult things I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
“His name should be remembered,” the friend said solemnly at the victim’s New Jersey home Thursday.
Báez Cordero’s father died at age 61 in July 2018, also in a car accident, on the Duarte Highway in the Dominican Republic while traveling to his vacation home in Jarabacoa, according to news reports. His driver survived the accident.
Báez Mella grew up in a family of photographers and filmmakers, including his grandfather Tuto Báez, who directed the D.R.’s first feature film, according to reports. Báez Mella is known as a pioneering documentarian in his home country, directing films including the D.R.’s 2017 Oscar contribution, “Flor de Azucar” and many documentaries about nature conservation and social issues.
Báez Cordero continued his father’s legacy, directing and editing short films, commercials and music videos with clients including Sony Music and Reebok, his LinkedIn page said.
The “about” page on his company, Oeuvre Studios’, site states: “Our aim is to use the medium of film as a force for good, fostering empathy, promoting diversity, and addressing important social, cultural, and environmental conversations” — a mission that echoes the themes of his father’s work.
Báez Cordero’s death in Gowanus has spurred an outpouring of grief and well wishes from his countrymen in the D.R., including from the country’s former president, Leonel Fernandez.
“With deep sorrow I receive the news of the passing of Arturo Báez Cordero, son of our dear friend María Cordero and the late filmmaker Fernando Báez,” Fernandez wrote in Spanish on X. “I express my most heartfelt solidarity with María and her entire family at this moment of indescribable pain. May strength and faith be with them.”
EliaCiM, a Latin pop musician from Santo Domingo and apparent friend of Báez Cordero, posted a heartfelt tribute to the young filmmaker on social media.
“You never missed a sincere hug or a word of encouragement for absolutely anyone. This is how I’ll remember you. Human, sensitive, with a unique sense of humor, beautiful on the outside,” the artist wrote in Spanish. “Your talent and commitment to excellence was never up for debate. I love you brother with every fiber of my heart.”
Mariasela Alvarez, a Dominican talk show host, spoke of Báez Cordero’s death on her program, “Esta Noche Mariasela.”
“We have tried to contact the family, but as you can understand, Maria Cordero, his mother, must be absolutely devastated,” Alvarez said in Spanish. “His siblings please accept our warmest regards and our deepest sympathy. We don’t understand how these things happen, but they do. And his wife, Lia Lizardo, daughter of (actress) Lumy Lizardo, is also devastated in the United States. I had the opportunity to speak with Lumy today, and she couldn’t stop crying.”
Báez Cordero lived in Lodi, New Jersey. It was not immediately clear why he was in Gowanus, Brooklyn, the night of the crash.
Suspect Alexey Ivanov was driving north on Second Ave. in Gowanus with his wife in the back passenger seat and his father-in-law riding shotgun in a 2016 blue Honda Odyssey when Ivanov accelerated through a red light at Ninth St., before slamming into Báez Cordero’s 2006 silver Mercedes-Benz R500 in the middle of the intersection around 6:25 p.m. on Sept. 14, police said.
Ivanov, 38, admitted to police, “For some reason I made a conscious choice to accelerate,” according to the criminal complaint.
Obtained by Daily News
Alexey Ivanov, 38, was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. (Obtained by Daily News)
Báez Cordero’s car was pushed north before striking a 2007 black-and-gray Dodge Dakota and then bursting into flames, cops said. Responding firefighters reportedly had to extricate Báez Cordero from his car and medics rushed him to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital where he was pronounced dead just before 7 p.m.
As cops tried to arrest Ivanov at the scene, he struck an officer in the face with an open hand, “causing substantial pain,” according to the complaint. He was also seen on NYPD body-camera footage, “getting in the way of FDNY members attempting to render aid,” “trying to break free” from another officer’s grasp and “refusing to comply with orders.”
Ivanov was ultimately arrested and charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. At his arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court Tuesday a judge ordered him held on $100,000 cash bail, $200,000 insurance bond or $300,000 partially secured bond.
He was taken to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, along with his wife, Arina Ayzen, 37, who was in critical condition, suffering head trauma from the crash. His 64-year-old father-in-law, Adrum Ayzen, was also hospitalized with a fractured leg.
