Community mourns ‘heartbreaking’ death of 11-year-old girl after crash in Independence

An 11-year-old girl has died after spending two days in a hospital on life support following a violent crash Wednesday in Independence that also left members of her family injured.

The family of Lilyana Loycano confirmed her death Friday at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.

She was taken to the hospital after a teenage driver allegedly disobeyed a stop sign and plowed into the family’s SUV at the intersection of County Roads 6 and 110.

“We find comfort in Lilyana’s legacy soon living on through organ donation,” the Loycano family said in a statement. “Lilyana was the heart of our family, with a giving and generous spirit that was felt by all around her.”

West Hennepin Public Safety authorities and Westonka Public Schools officials initially reported the girl had died Wednesday. Her injuries were so severe that the prospects of her recovering were grim.

Police said that Lilyana, with her parents Eric and Emmy Loycano, and her three brothers, were headed to school when they stopped at a four-way stop at County Roads 83/110 and 6.

As they crossed County Road 6, Conner Michael Iversen, 18, of St. Paul, allegedly failed to stop while heading west and broadsided the SUV.

“It was horrible,” said Sgt. Jon Howes with West Hennepin Public Safety, who was the first responder to arrive on the scene. “It was like a bomb went off — car parts everywhere.”

Lilyana’s brothers, twins Dominic and Jaxon, 15, and 4-year-old Merric, were treated at a hospital and later released.

News about the horrific crash spread fast, particularly through the Mound Westonka Hockey Association where the twin boys played hockey and Emmy was a team manager.

“Text strings fired up immediately,” said association President CR Childers. “It is tough imagining going home one family member short.”

In the hours since the crash, Childers said families within the association have organized meal trains for the Loycanos and are looking for other ways to support the family.

On Wednesday night, teammates on Jaxon and Dominic’s Bantam hockey team taped tributes and messages of well wishes on their helmets as they played in a playoff game. The team won 4-3.

“The hockey community is unique in that it supports its members,” Childers said.

Lilyana was a fifth-grader at Grandview Middle School in Mound. Her passing is “heartbreaking,” said Kevin Borg, superintendent of Westonka Public Schools.

“The death of any young person is a loss that, in one way or another, affects us all of us,” he wrote in a letter to families that was obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune. “In the many days ahead, we offer our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences to the Loycano family.”

Borg said the district’s crisis-support team would be at Grandview school to help students and staffers process the sad news. Counselors will also be available at the district’s other schools, he said.

Several people gathered for a prayer vigil Wednesday night at the family’s church, Good Shepherd Lutheran in Orono. A friend of the Loycano family started a fundraiser to support the family that had collected more than $20,000 as of Friday night.

“Our family would like to thank the community for its thoughts and well wishes, and request privacy at this difficult time,” the Loycanos said in a statement.

Authorities on Friday were still trying to piece together what led to the crash. A State Patrol team was conducting a reconstruction, Howes said.

“It was a preventable deal,” Howes said of the incident.

Iversen, who had a valid driver’s license according to the Department of Public Safety, has been repeatedly in trouble with the law since last fall, according to court records.

In September, he was cited and convicted for driving on the shoulder of Hwy. 100 in Edina, court records show.

He was convicted in December of a misdemeanor for abandoning a vehicle that became inoperable after striking a curb in Shorewood. In another incident, he was charged with fleeing police in a motor vehicle. He is due back in court on March 7 on that complaint, according to court records.