Jurors on Wednesday found a 20-year-old woman guilty of murder and other felony counts for street racing with her brother when he crashed and killed a couple in an SUV on Easter Sunday in 2021.
Woman guilty of murder for racing her brother in Burnsville when he crashed, killed couple in SUV
The deaths "were due to ... the inherently dangerous act of drag racing," County Attorney Kathy Keena said.
December 14, 2022 at 11:22PM
Camille L. Dennis-Bond, of Burnsville, was convicted in Dakota County District Court of two counts each of third-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide, and one count of criminal vehicular operation and careless driving. The high-speed collision on County Road 42 killed 22-year-old Tayler Nicole Garza, of Woodbury, Wis., and 22-year-old Dalton Lee Ford, of Burnsville.
Upon conviction, Dennis-Bond was taken into custody and remains jailed without bail ahead of sentencing scheduled for March 24.
Her brother, Leon Bond, was charged as a juvenile for his role in the crash. Bond, who was 17 years old at the time of the collision, is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 23. The County Attorney's Office had sought to have his case moved to adult court, where a conviction would have had the potential for a more severe sentence.
The deaths of Garza and Ford, both 2017 graduates of Prescott (Wis.) High School, "were due to the extremely reckless behavior of Camille Dennis-Bond and Leon Bond engaging in the inherently dangerous act of drag racing," County Attorney Kathy Keena said in a post-verdict statement.
Garza's online obituary says she was pursuing a degree in nursing at the time of her death, and "together Tayler and Dalton shared in camping, hiking, car club and traveling adventures. They also were 'foodies,' and loved cooking and trying new restaurants and different foods together."
Ford's obituary noted that he "treasured his time with his family and friends and the love of his life, Tayler Garza."
According to the criminal complaint against Dennis-Bond:
At roughly 10:30 a.m. April 4, 2021, Dennis-Bond was racing against her brother on eastbound County Road 42. Each had a passenger in their car. One witness said Bond's car was driving "incredibly fast" and hit an SUV that was turning left from westbound County Road 42 onto S. Newton Avenue.
The SUV "basically turned into powder and split in half," the witness said. Ford, who was driving, and Garza both died at the scene.
Bond's passenger, his twin sister, survived critical injuries throughout much of her body, and was hospitalized for about 5 1⁄2 weeks while she underwent at least five surgeries.
A witness estimated the two cars passed him going about 100 mph and said it looked like they were either racing or engaged in a road rage incident. The speed limit on that stretch of road is 50 mph.
A State Patrol analysis of the crash concluded that Bond's vehicle was traveling between 93 and 100 mph at the time of impact, and was touching 114 mph five seconds before the crash.
Bond told law enforcement that he and his older sister were at a stoplight on County Road 42 at Burnsville Parkway, where he told her he wanted to see whose car could get to 50 mph the soonest.
He added that he saw the SUV in plenty of time to avoid a collision but chose instead to speed through the intersection in hopes of avoiding a crash.
