Burnsville motorist, 19, pleads guilty to murder in couple’s crash deaths

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

A 19-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of third-degree murder in connection with a 2021 crash that killed a Wisconsin couple in Burnsville.

The Dakota County attorney’s office sought to certify Leon Bond as an adult in the case. The county attorney’s office says Senior Judge Joseph Carter instead ordered the case proceed under extended juvenile jurisdiction, which they appealed. The Minnesota Court of Appeals court upheld Carter’s decision.

Dakota County District Judge Christopher Lehmann has set Bond’s sentencing and juvenile disposition hearing for Jan. 23.

Bond, of Burnsville, was racing against a vehicle driven by his 19-year-old sister, Camille Dennis-Bond, also of Burnsville. Five seconds before the crash, Leon Bond reached 114 mph, according to a criminal complaint. The speed limit in the area was 50 mph.

Bond’s Chrysler 200 T-boned a Honda-CRV — Dalton Lee Ford was the driver and Tayler Nicole Garza the passenger. The two 22-year-olds died. Dennis-Bond’s Chevrolet Malibu narrowly missed the Honda.

The collision happened on Dakota County Road 42 near Newton Avenue about 10:30 a.m. April 4, 2021. It was Easter Sunday.

Ford and Garza regarded each other as the love of their lives, and were from Prescott, Wis., according to their obituaries.

Last month, a jury deliberated for about seven hours and convicted Dennis-Bond of two counts of third-degree murder, two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular operation resulting in great bodily harm and careless driving. She is scheduled to be sentenced March 24.

Both Ford and Garza worked at Vino in the Valley in Maiden Rock, Wis. — he was a cook and she a bartender. Ford also worked as an auto technician at Luther White Bear Acura and Garza as a team lead at Target in Woodbury.

They were 2017 graduates of Prescott High School. Ford had earned an associate degree in automobile technology and Garza was attending college to pursue a degree in nursing.

“Together Tayler and Dalton shared in camping, hiking, traveling and his car club adventures,” Ford’s obituary said.

Related Articles