Fatal hit-and-run charge filed against local DFL leader in northern Minnesota

A leader in the DFL Party in northern Minnesota is charged with last summer running over and killing a pedestrian on Hwy. 169 and driving off. The next morning, she called 911 to report that she hit an owl or a turkey, according to a criminal complaint.

Cynthia Arlene Martin, 65, of Grand Rapids, was charged Tuesday in Itasca County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the July 3 crash that killed 19-year-old Carter John Haithcock of Goodland, Minn.

Martin was charged by summons and is due in court Dec. 26. Court records do not list an attorney for her. A message was left with Martin seeking her response to the allegations.

Martin is chair of the DFL in the Eighth Congressional District, according to public records and a DFL official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

According to the complaint:

A motorist told law enforcement that at about 11:18 p.m. he swerved to avoid a body on Hwy. 169 near Nashwauk. While he was pulled over and calling 911, another driver drove over the body, then stopped.

Investigators determined that Haithcock left a street dance in Nashwauk and was talking on his phone a few minutes before he was hit.

Officers arrived and determined from vehicle debris at the scene that it was a GMC from 1999-2006 that hit Haithcock.

Surveillance footage from a nearby gas station showed the driver of an SUV with a single headlight pulling over near the crash scene at 11:17 p.m., remaining there for less than 30 seconds and then driving off.

Shortly before 6 a.m. July 4, Martin called 911 and reported being involved in a crash. In a follow-up statement to law enforcement, she “stated she believed she struck an owl or a turkey. [She] stated that she did not stop and continued home.”

A State Patrol examination of Martin’s vehicle revealed a nonfunctional passenger-side headlight, damage to the right front of the SUV and cracks in the windshield. A piece of fabric recovered from the hood “was consistent with the sweatshirt worn by [Haithcock],” the complaint read.

Staff writer Kim Hyatt contributed to this report.