Criminal vehicular homicide charges filed in Minneapolis crash that left five people dead
Prosecutors have filed criminal vehicular homicide charges against a driver accused of causing a crash that claimed the lives of five young women in Minneapolis last week.
Derrick John Thompson, 27, of Brooklyn Park, was charged Thursday with 10 counts in connection with the crash last Friday.
For each person who died in the crash, Thompson faces a criminal vehicular homicide charge for operating a vehicle in a grossly negligent manner, and a second criminal vehicular homicide charge for leaving the scene of the crash. He also faces federal charges in the case.
The victims were identified as Sabiriin Ali, 17, of Bloomington; Salma Abdikadir, 20, of St. Louis Park; Sahra Gesaade, 20, of Brooklyn Center; Sagal Hersi, 19, of Minneapolis; and Siham Odhowa, 19, of Minneapolis.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
“The deaths of these five young women is devastating for their loved ones and has shaken our community,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a news release announcing the state charges. “We value each of these young women’s lives and plan to seek a separate sentence for each life lost.”
The crash happened Friday night along Lake Street, just off an exit ramp from northbound Interstate 35W.
The complaint alleges that Thompson was driving a Cadillac Escalade SUV at 95 mph on the freeway when he exited and drove through a red light, broadsiding a passing Honda Civic.
All five people in that car died from their injuries. Thompson allegedly left the scene and was later found nearby. He was positively identified by a witness to the crash, according to the complaint.
Thompson was treated for injuries, including a cut on his forehead that he allegedly told officers was an old cut. He was arrested on Monday.
The complaint says Thompson rented the SUV at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport less than a half-hour before the crash. After the crash, investigators who searched the SUV allegedly found a handgun, more than 2,000 pills that field-tested positive for fentanyl, and white powder that field-tested positive for cocaine.
Thompson also faces federal charges for possession of a firearm as a felon, possession of fentanyl, and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. According to that complaint, also announced Thursday, Thompson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in federal prison if convicted.
Authorities took a blood sample from Thompson after the crash; results of that testing were still pending on Thursday.
The complaint states that Thompson has previous convictions including for a 2018 crash in California that critically injured a pedestrian.
The complaint states that Thompson’s Minnesota driver’s license was revoked in 2018 after a conviction for fleeing police in a vehicle — but then reinstated in March of this year.
“I firmly believe in the potential for redemption and second chances, but Mr. Thompson has repeatedly engaged in extraordinarily dangerous criminal driving conduct related to apparent large-scale drug dealing,” Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, said in her statement about the charges. “He has caused immeasurable pain and suffering in multiple states, and we will seek a significant sentence that appropriately reflects the devastation he has caused.”
KARE 11 reported that Thompson is the son of former state Rep. John Thompson.
The victims were members of the Dar al Farooq Center in Bloomington. The center’s director said they had been returning from a night of preparations for a wedding when the crash occurred.
“We lost five beautiful, five caring, five bright pearls who were assets to our community,” Khalid Omar told MPR News. “Some of them had plans of going to college this fall. And for some, you know, they are attending local universities, colleges in our city, so they had a very bright future.”
Thousands of people gathered for their funeral on Monday.