Charges: Driver was racing up to 75 mph before striking, killing pedestrian in Mankato
MANKATO, Minn. -- An 18-year-old driver was charged with striking and killing a pedestrian in Mankato Monday evening, and the charges indicate she had been involved in a street race leading up to the incident.
According to investigators, the crash happened around 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of Madison Avenue and Hope Street. A driver in a Nissan Altima ran into a 66-year-old man there, killing him. He was identified as Jeffery Ward, of Mankato.
The driver, Kaylee Richmond, of Mankato, has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide.
According to the complaint, officers arriving on the scene noted that the hood had been disfigured in the crash, and there was a large streak of blood on top of the vehicle.
Officers said Richmond was sobbing and hyperventilating when they found her, and she admitted to them that she had been racing another vehicle prior to the crash, saying, "The other car should be in trouble too."
She said that she had been looking over at the other car she was racing and, when she looked back, the victim was in front of her. Witnesses in the area corroborated that there had been two vehicles appearing to race along the stretch of road.
Reconstruction of the crash indicated that Richmond's vehicle had been going about 70 to 75 mph. The speed limit in that zone is 35 mph.
If convicted, Richmond faces up to 10 years in prison.