Driver who killed Deona Marie Knajdek during Minneapolis protest sentenced to 240 months

MINNEAPOLIS -- The man who drove into a group of protesters in Minneapolis last year, killing one woman, will spend two decades in prison.

Nicholas Kraus was sentenced to 240 months for second-degree murder in court Wednesday morning. He also received a 45-month concurrent sentence for second-degree assault.

Deona Marie Knajdek, a 31-year-old mother of two, died in June 2021 when an SUV plowed through a protest in Uptown. Kraus was behind the wheel. 

Knajdek's mom Deb says her family supported a plea deal for Kraus instead of going to trial. Her only requirement: that he plead guilty to a level of murder. The prosecution and state agreed on a sentencing range of 17 and a half years to 21 years.

Several people delivered written victim impact statements to the judge, including Knajdek's two daughters. Knajdek's mother read hers in court Wednesday.

Another victim who survived the accident was the first to address the court Wednesday morning.

"I'm haunted by the thoughts of what if - what If my loved ones were there with me and they got murdered?" said Paul Demaris. "Now I live with the guilt that I survived when Deona Marie's promising life was cut short."

Knajdek's brother Garrett spoke next, telling the court her death has not only had a great impact on him, but on his children also.

"I stand in front of you hear today lost and broken, as my best friend and my sister was ripped from this world," he said. "So many questions and an open hole in my heart"

"The sun isn't as bright, our games aren't as fun, and the songs we listen to don't mean the same things," he said.

Kraus' attorney asked the judge to issue the lightest sentence possible, but Kraus himself asked the judge to consider the harshest.

"I deserve the top of the box. I deserve more than that," he said addressing the court. "The only thing I can say, is that it should have been me that died. It should have been me. When I collided with that car, it should have been me, not anyone else. Because they were fighting for stuff that was going on in this world that shouldn't have been going on."

After the sentencing, Knajdek's mother Deb Kenney said her family will focus on grieving her during the Thanksgiving holiday.

"It's final, so it's time to take that big deep breath and take a really long nap, and be able to hopefully be able to sit down tomorrow and have a meal without having to think about the fact that we are going to have to go to court, that's a plus for us is that we can now make some steps forward," she said. "It did not matter if he got two months, or he got 22 years, there is absolutely nothing - no time, no energy, wherever he goes that will bring her back here."