The Richfield sisters were walking home when the driver struck her, injuring her, the charges say

[ad_1]

A speeding driver was drunk when he hit teenage siblings crossing the street on their way home from a Bloomington store, killing one of them and seriously injuring the other, according to charges filed Monday.

Mikala J. Ness, 27, of Oakdale, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide one under the influence of alcohol and one count of leaving the scene and criminal operation of a vehicle, in connection of crashing shortly. after 6 pm Friday near 12th Avenue and E. 78th Street.

Donald E. Gayton Jr., 17, died Sunday of severe head injuries, according to the charges. Her sister, Tamya Lynn Gayton, 14, suffered serious injuries. They belong to a Richfield family that has several children in the school district of that city.

Just after 5 p.m. Monday, hours after Gayton’s death was announced, about 100 of the Gaytons’ friends from school and youth groups held a brief vigil on the 78th Street block where it happened the crash. They hug each other and shake while holding the blue balloons. Police blocked off the road so mourners could safely stand where the Gaytons were walking before the crash.

Ness, of Oakdale, was found and arrested by officers more than a mile away after his car went off the road in the 1900 block of Killebrew Drive, police said.

According to the criminal complaint:

A woman told police she was driving on 78th Street between Portland and 12th avenues on Friday when she saw Ness’ car “pass her at a high rate of speed” and hit Tamya Gayton.

The woman stops to check on Tamya and then finds Donald unconscious on the street. Emergency medical responders took both teenagers to HCMC.

A short time later, the 911 caller reported Ness’ car in a crash on Killebrew Drive near the Mall of America, and Ness was in the caller’s car to stay warm. The caller said Ness admitted to her that he had hit two people and that he was afraid he had killed one of them.

Under questioning by police, Ness said he left a holiday party but could not remember the location. Police noticed that his speech was slurred and he smelled of alcohol.

Asked whether she had hit something, she said: “I feel like it, but I don’t know.”

Ness performed poorly during the police field sobriety test. A preliminary breath test measured his blood alcohol content at 0.13%, more than one and a half times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

Ness remained in jail Monday in lieu of $300,000 bail, and court records did not list an attorney for him. He is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.

Tamya Gayton told police from the hospital that she and her brother were walking home after buying candy at Walmart in Bloomington. He said their path along eastbound 78th Street was covered in snow, “so they decided to walk on the side of the road,” the complaint states. About an hour after sunset.

At some point, he continued, they decided to cross 78th to the other side of the street, and that’s where Ness hit them. Tamya Gayton said she didn’t hear tires skidding, horns honking or the car’s engine running before they were hit, before crossing a bridge on Interstate 494 leading back to their apartment.

The charges do not say where on the street the youths were crossing, but Deputy Police Chief Kimberly Clauson said “it did not appear to be in a designated crosswalk or crossing zone.”

Chief Booker Hodges said the crash was “totally avoidable.”

Richfield Public Schools lead social worker Chantelle Vaughn said she knows the family is a loving and connected one. “I can’t imagine the heartache they are going through right now,” Vaughn said in an email to school families. “May they know that we are here for them as we hold them in our hearts.”

Richfield Superintendent Steven Unowsky said the Gayton family has been a part of the school community “for many years, with siblings currently attending elementary, middle and high school here.”

At Monday’s vigil, mourners said Donald Gayton Jr. is a sweet boy with a bright future.

“Quick to smile and include people, always willing to help, always willing to go the extra mile,” said Mike Ashley of Tree House, a Christian youth group where Donald Jr. was a member. Ashley thought of Donald Jr. as he set up several propane heaters around the vigil for dozens of teenagers to warm their hands. “I brought these propane tanks and I said, ‘This is a job Junior could have helped with.’ “

Donald Jr. has gone by “Junior” most of his life, Ashley said, but in the past year he’s started asking people to call him Donald, to sound older.

Friends were quick to comment on how funny Donald was.

“No matter what, he always makes me laugh,” said Jay Brigamel.

After a few minutes of near silence at the crash site, mourners released their balloons as they watched them float away until they were too cold and then returned to their cars.

[ad_2]