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Driver pleads guilty to causing deadly St. Paul crash while speeding and distracted

A 33-year-old Burnsville man died in the multivehicle wreck.

April 29, 2022 at 12:19AM

A 22-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to being distracted and speeding when she rear-ended a car stopped at a St. Paul intersection and set off a multivehicle crash that left one man dead.

Megan C. Severson of Preston, Minn., entered her plea to criminal vehicular homicide Wednesday in connection with the midday pileup on Hwy. 52 on Oct. 17, 2019, that killed Anthony Keli Kawino, 33, of Burnsville.

An agreement with prosecutors calls for Severson to serve 33 days in jail spread over five years, 90 days in jail with the possibility of work release, five years probation, and a "stay of imposition" of a five-year prison sentence.

The stay of imposition means the conviction will be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor if she successfully complies with the terms of her sentence and probation.

Judge JaPaul Harris will have the final say on the agreement at sentencing on June 27.

According to the criminal complaint, based on witness accounts and evidence from the State Patrol investigation:

Severson was traveling 70 miles per hour, 15 mph over the speed limit, a few seconds before her Chevy Malibu hit a Saturn sedan stopped on northbound Hwy. 52 at Plato Boulevard. The Saturn's driver and one passenger survived their injuries, but Kawino did not.

The drivers in two other vehicles caught up in the wreck were slightly hurt, as was Severson.

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The patrol found that Severson didn't brake until a half-second before impact, reducing her speed to about 59 mph.

Severson told someone in a car behind hers at the scene that she had glanced down at the GPS on her dashboard shortly before impact.

about the writer

about the writer

Paul Walsh

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Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

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