180-day sentence for driver who ran over a man on purpose in St. Paul and killed him

A 32-year-old woman has received a 180-day sentence for intentionally running over a man and killing him near downtown St. Paul.

Landis R. Hill, of Minneapolis, was sentenced Monday in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death on Oct. 6 of Al Rakip J. Zaidi, 21, of St. Paul, near the intersection of E. 10th and Broadway streets.

As part of her plea agreement reached in June, prosecutors dismissed a second-degree unintentional murder count.

District Judge JaPaul Harris' sentence of 180 days in jail allows Hill to have work release privileges and also gives her credit for the 45 days she served after her arrest. The judge also placed her on probation for eight years and set aside a prison sentence of 4¾ years. The sentence was a downward departure from state guidelines.

Zaidi's body was found in the street by a truck driver about 4:30 a.m., and fire department medics pronounced him dead at the scene, according to police.

Hill told police that she ran down Zaidi after he reached into the vehicle where she and her companion were living while they were sleeping and stole cash and a cellphone.

Hill's companion was chasing Zaidi on foot when she struck Zaidi with an SUV. She and her companion then drove away and reported what had happened to police. When told that Zaidi had died, Hill and her companion voluntarily went to police headquarters.