A 5-year-old St. Paul girl has died from her injuries after the stalled car she was in was struck by an SUV on Saturday evening in Lake Elmo, according to a GoFundMe online fundraiser apparently created by a family member.
Lake Elmo crash kills 5-year-old St. Paul girl
Morgan Rae Petersen was in a stalled car with two others on Hwy. 36 when an SUV struck it from behind.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 22, 2024 at 3:55AM
The girl, identified as Morgan Rae Petersen, was a passenger in a Ford Focus stopped in the left lane of eastbound Hwy. 36 just before 9 p.m. when it was hit from behind by a Nissan Pathfinder, the State Patrol said. Morgan’s father tried to get the car out of the traffic lane, the fundraiser said. But the SUV struck the car at “highway speeds,” the patrol said.
The online fundraiser said Sunday night that Morgan died earlier in the day.
“My brother suffered a concussion and mild head injury, my nephew had an angel watching over him and is fine, but my beautiful niece did not pull through,” Nicole Guillette wrote on GoFundMe. “She suffered a broken neck and serious brain injuries that were not survivable.”
Morgan had been wearing a seat belt. Her 43-year-old father driving the Focus and 10-year-old brother in the car were not wearing seat belts and suffered less serious injuries, according to the State Patrol. The 47-year-old St. Paul man driving the Pathfinder, was wearing a seat belt and also suffered noncritical injuries. All were taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
The governor said it may be 2027 or 2028 by the time the market catches up to demand.
