Murder charge: Driver purposely struck woman in Maplewood, dragged her body along pavement and fled

A driver has been charged with murder for allegedly striking a woman on purpose last week in Maplewood and dragging her body along the pavement.

Ashley Renee Couch, 34, of St. Paul was charged in Ramsey County District Court last week with second-degree murder and second-degree assault in connection with the hit-and-run crash on Wednesday at E. Larpenteur Avenue and and N. Dieter Street that killed 23-year-old Zakirrah Anderson of Minneapolis.

The incident grew out of a dispute earlier that evening in St. Paul, where Anderson and others were targeted with gunfire by rivals that included Couch, the criminal complaint read.

Couch remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail. She appeared in court Monday and is due back in court on Sept. 9. A message was sent to her attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

Court records show that Couch has a long and varied criminal history in Minnesota. She has been convicted six times for theft, four times each for disorderly conduct and assault, twice for terroristic threats and once each for aiding a drive-by shooting, child endangerment, property damage and possessing burglary tools.

At the time of the incident, Couch was driving after having her license revoked, the state Department of Public Safety said Monday.

An online fundraising campaign begun on behalf of Anderson’s family read, “Our dearest Zakirrah Laniyah Cheyan Anderson (Ziggy) was abruptly taken from us. At the sweet tender age of only 23, no one could have imagined this day, let alone prepare for it.”

According to the latest charges, medics sent to the scene about 9:20 p.m. found Anderson on the pavement with a long cut that stretched down her back and one leg. Black scuff marks covered her back. Medics took Anderson to Regions Hospital, where she was declared dead.

A witness told police she was with Anderson and another person who were in a parked car and waiting to fight another group of women at Wakefield Park.

The witness told police that the scene was recorded on SnapChat. Officers viewed the video, which showed women yelling as a Dodge Charger headed west on Larpenteur, hitting a car.

Anderson and a woman in her group were standing outside the car, and the impact sent the other woman airborne. Anderson was struck “and then is no longer visible [in the video] as the vehicle continues to drive west on Larpenteur,” the charges read.

The two people with Anderson were heard on the recording repeatedly asking, “Where’s Ziggy?” Then one of them screamed, “She’s on that car still,” the criminal complaint continued.

The woman who survived being hit told police that Anderson’s group took gunfire that night in the 1400 block of Maryland Avenue from a group that included Couch. That shooting led to the rivals agreeing to meet at Wakefield Park and fight.

Police found the Charger, damaged and unoccupied, about 4:50 a.m. Thursday in an alley in the 1000 block of McLean Avenue in St. Paul. The rear license plate was gone, and “there were trash cans that appeared to have been placed in front of it in an effort to conceal it from view,” the charges read.

Under questioning by police, Couch denied intentionally hitting anyone. She said he kept driving after Anderson was hit because the other women were talking about macing her car and referencing guns.