Driver pleads guilty in fatal downtown Minneapolis hit-and-run
Driver pleads guilty in fatal downtown Minneapolis hit-and-run 00:37
A Minneapolis woman who drove into a crowd during a fight in downtown Minneapolis, killing one person and injuring five others, pleaded guilty to murder and assault charges on Tuesday.
Latalia Margalli's was scheduled to stand trial, but instead, she entered guilty pleas to second-degree murder and five counts of second-degree assault, according to court records.
Prosecutors said Margalli was among a group of people fighting at the intersection of Fifth Street and Hennepin Avenue on Sept. 14, 2024. She left the fight, got in her car and drove through a crowd of a dozen people, charges said. She then continued driving through downtown before being stopped by law enforcement on the 2300 block of Bryant Avenue North.
Sixteen-year-old De'Miaya Broome was among those Margalli hit. She was hospitalized and later died. Her father Juan Broome said she "was a really, really good kid" who "had the biggest heart."
Five others suffered injuries ranging from "bumps and bruises to broken legs and a head injury," charges said. One of the five was severely injured.
Margalli is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office said it will request a 285-month sentence for the murder charge and consecutive sentences for the assault charges.
Days after the hit-and-run, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the same intersection. Nearby business owners and residents expressed sadness, disbelief and frustration over those crimes and others in the area.
"It's every weekend. I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner," said one downtown resident after the hit-and-run.
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