NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City man who fled a hit-and-run car crash that killed a young Orthodox Jewish family is expected to appear before a judge on Thursday night.

Julio Acevedo, 44, of Brooklyn, faces one count of vehicular manslaughter, three counts of leaving the scene of an accident and three counts of criminally negligent homicide for the hit-and-run on Sunday morning, police said.

He is due to appear in a Brooklyn court.

The victims, Raizy and Nachman Glauber, 21, were members of an Orthodox Jewish enclave in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They were expecting their first child.

They were on the way to the hospital when their taxi was hit broadside by a gray BMW sedan, police said. The BMW driver fled the scene on foot.

The Glauber baby was delivered on Sunday by Cesarean section at Bellevue Hospital, where the mother had been pronounced dead on arrival, police said. The boy died early on Monday.

Family friends said the child's birth had been a ray of hope that was extinguished when the baby died of his injuries. They said Raizy Glauber was about six months pregnant and wanted to go to the hospital because she was not feeling well.

Police launched a manhunt for Acevedo, whom a witness picked out of a photo lineup. Acevedo, who has a lengthy criminal record, surrendered on Wednesday to New York City detectives in the parking lot of a convenience store in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The meeting between the suspect and police had been arranged with the help of one of Acevedo's friends, New York City Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said.

Browne said he did not know what connection, if any, Acevedo had with Bethlehem, a small city in eastern Pennsylvania that lies about 90 miles west of New York City.

"It's a sweet, bitter pill to swallow," said family friend and community leader Isaac Abraham. "Sweet because it's at least the best news we have heard in the last 72 hours, but it's bitter because it doesn't bring any of three people that were murdered back.

"I hope they throw the book at him," he added.

Acevedo has a lengthy criminal record that includes murder, robbery and weapons possession, police said.

Witnesses to the Sunday morning crash said the BMW had been speeding, police said. The taxi was at a stop sign when the accident occurred, police said.

Before his surrender, Acevedo spoke by telephone to the New York Daily News. An article published on Tuesday said Acevedo had claimed he was fleeing gunshots when the accident occurred and that he fled the scene of the accident because he was afraid of being shot.

(Reporting By Edith Honan; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Stacey Joyce)