Charges: Driver purposely ran over and killed teen in front of people in Forest Lake, then fled

A man is charged with intentionally striking and killing a teenage girl with his vehicle after a fight involving a group of people this weekend in a Forest Lake park.

Dylan R. Simmons, 20, of North Branch, Minn., was charged Monday with third-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the hit-and-run death of 17-year-old Darisha Bailey Vath of Stacy, Minn., 1:20 a.m. Sunday in Lakeside Memorial Park.

Simmons remains jailed in lieu of $375,000 bail ahead of a court appearance on July 27. Court records do not list an attorney for him.

"Darisha was looking forward to graduating [high school] in the spring of 2024," read a posting on an online fundraising campaign created by her family to cover expenses related to her death.

"Her biggest dream after graduating was to become a veterinarian," the posting continued. "All those dreams have been shattered. ... We will never see our daughter, niece, sister and cousin fulfill her future."

According to the criminal complaint and a related court document based on witness accounts:

Police officers arrived to the parking lot to see Vath on the ground surrounded by numerous bystanders as one of them was giving CPR to the wounded teenager. Police and emergency medical responders failed to revive Vath, and she was declared dead at the scene.

People there told police there had just been "physical fights involving two groups of individuals," the charges read. "Multiple participants had armed themselves with weapons such as a baseball bat, a crowbar and a folding knife."

Simmons, who was there to play hacky sack, and another person got in a car once the situation calmed down. One of the groups hit Simmons' car with a baseball bat, and he claimed he was hit on the arm with a bat.

Simmons then "intentionally drove in the direction of several people from the opposing side of the conflict" and struck the back end of another vehicle that belonged to his rivals and brought Vath to the park.

Simmons backed up his car and drove toward multiple people close to the vehicle he hit. He "drove over her with both the front and rear passenger side tires" of his car before driving away, the complaint read.

A male in the car with Simmons called someone who was still at the park being interviewed by a police sergeant, who encouraged the two of them to return to the scene.

Upon return, Simmons admitted that he ran over Vath and knew what he had done.

Law enforcement has yet to say whether the person with Simmons might be charged with a crime.

Court records show that Simmons' driving history includes convictions for underage drinking and driving, speeding, no vehicle registration, no vehicle insurance and driving after suspension. He also has an open case for driving in April after his license was revoked. At the time of Sunday's incident, Simmons did hold a valid driver's license, a state Department of Public Safety spokesman said.