A onetime national champion college hockey player has been sentenced after admitting she caused a two-vehicle crash in western Minnesota that killed a teammate riding with her.
Onetime Gustavus Adolphus hockey player gets probation for causing crash that killed teammate
Gianna Gasparini pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor. Charge will be dismissed if she abides terms of her one-year probation.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 10, 2024 at 2:55PM
Gianna K. Gasparini, 20, of Lakeville pleaded guilty Monday in Chippewa County District Court to a gross-misdemeanor count of reckless driving in connection to the midday collision on Aug. 20, 2023. The crash about 20 miles west of Willmar killed Gusties goaltender Jori Lynn Jones, 19, of Little Canada.
Gasparini was sentenced under what is called a stay of adjudication. That means if she abides by the terms of her one year of unsupervised probation, which includes paying a $3,000 fine and remaining law abiding, the charge will be dismissed and the conviction removed from the court record.
According to the criminal complaint:
The SUV driven by Gasparini was heading east on Hwy. 40 in Grace Township with three teammates as passengers when she collided with a southbound minivan at the intersection with Hwy. 29. All four women in the SUV were taken to Montevideo Hospital for treatment of various injuries.
In a statement taken at the hospital, Gasparini said the thought she was traveling 68 mph and “didn’t notice that it was a four-way intersection until it was too late.”
She admitted to drinking at a concert the night before but didn’t think there was alcohol in her system; a preliminary breath sample confirmed her belief.
Gasparini said she wasn’t distracted by her phone. She said she didn’t take her ADHD medicine that morning but “should have” because it helps her “focus better,” the complaint states.
Gasparini’s other passengers were Kayla M. Bluhm of Chisago City and Lily K. Mortenson of Champlin. The women were in one of three vehicles of teammates at the small private school in St. Peter returning from a short off-season trip to Aberdeen in eastern South Dakota.
All four women were freshmen on the team that won the NCAA Division III championship in March 2023. Before joining Gustavus Adolphus, Jones played high school hockey for Roseville, Gasparini for Lakeville North, Mortenson for Benilde-St. Margaret in St. Louis Park and Bluhm for Chisago Lakes.
The driver of the other vehicle in the crash, Brandi Rasmussen, told officials she stopped and looked both ways at the intersection, didn’t see anything and then “all of a sudden, I’m just turning over and turning over and turning over,” the complaint quoted her as saying.
A witness who was driving near the intersection at the time of the crash told officials the SUV driven by Gasparini was “going too fast” and “missed the stop,” the complaint continued.
Court records show that Gasparini was convicted of a misdemeanor for underage drinking in May 2023.
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