James Robert Lapsley Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison For Single Vehicle Crash That Killed Kayli Thompson In May 2018
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Judge Shawn Moyihan has sentenced James Robert Lapsley to 4 years in prison for the single vehicle crash on Interstate 35W in Burnsville that killed 19-year-old Kayli Thompson of Burnsville in 2018.
Lapsley previously pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide on January 6.
On the day of the crash, a witness told police officers that he was driving south on I-35W when he observed Lapsley's Ford Fusion driving erratically. The car drove past him and out of view — by the next time he saw it after coming to the top of a hill, it was in a ditch.
The car went off the road to the right, hit a sound wall, rolled and came to rest in a ditch. Thompson was a passenger in the Ford and her injuries were fatal.
Officers on scene spoke to Lapsley and observed him to have "bloodshot, glassy eyes and slurred speech."
A sample of his blood later tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and it was determined from accident reconstruction that the Fusion was travelling at approximately 83 miles per hour when it hit the wall on May 26, 2018.
