Trial is set for man charged with driving into Uptown protest, killing woman

A jury trial has been scheduled for a St. Paul man accused of driving into an Uptown protest in Minneapolis in June and killing a woman.

Nicholas D. Kraus, 35, goes on trial starting March 21 in Hennepin County District Court on one count of second-degree intentional murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the June 13 crash that injured three protesters and killed Deona M. Knajdek, 31, of Minneapolis.

Last month, Judge Paul Scoggin found Kraus mentally competent to stand trial, a determination made based on a report by a court-appointed mental health expert.

Kraus remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail ahead of a Nov. 3 court appearance.

Knajdek was among protesters who gathered at W. Lake Street and Girard Avenue S. after a U.S. Marshals Service task force fatally shot Winston Boogie Smith Jr. on June 3 while attempting to arrest him.

According to the charges, Kraus, who didn't have a driver's license, admitted to accelerating toward the crowd in his SUV in hopes of vaulting over a vehicle parked as a barrier.

Earlier court documents said Kraus was acting "in a bizarre manner" moments after the crash, telling an officer his name was Jesus Christ or Tim Burton, the movie director, and "that he has been a carpenter for 2,000 years."

Intentional murder charges are rare for deaths involving vehicles, but County Attorney Mike Freeman said in the days after the crash that Kraus was intoxicated when he committed an "extreme and violent intentional act" that killed a peaceful protester.

Kraus has five drunken-driving convictions, most recently in 2016 in Anoka County. He also was convicted numerous times of driving without a valid license and for assault, failure to have auto insurance and giving police a false name. He lost his license after a drunken-driving conviction in 2013, according to state officials.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482