Speeding, distracted driver gets jail time for fatal crash on U.S. 52 in St. Paul

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·4 min read

A 23-year-old woman who was speeding and allegedly distracted when she rear-ended a stopped car on U.S. 52 in St. Paul — causing a chain reaction crash that left one man dead — was sentenced Monday to 123 days in jail. The agreement includes a five-year stayed prison sentence and five years of probation.

Megan Charol Severson, of Preston, Minn., previously pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in April in connection with the Oct. 17, 2019, crash that killed Anthony Keli Kawino, 33, of Burnsville.

Ramsey County District Judge JaPaul Harris on Monday accepted Severson’s April plea agreement with prosecutors, saying she took responsibility for the crash and showed remorse for Kawino’s family before and during a mediation conference with them.

Severson is expected to serve an initial 90 days at the Fillmore County Jail starting Aug. 1 and then fulfill the remaining sentence by 2026. The judge obliged with a request from Kawino’s family, ordering Severson to report to jail on the anniversary of his death each year beginning in 2023.

Severson must also speak about the crash at a driver’s education class.

“It was an accident,” the judge said. “But let others know not to repeat that accident.”

CHARGES

It was about 12:30 p.m. when Minnesota State Patrol troopers were sent to the northbound lanes of U.S. 52 at Plato Boulevard on reports of a multiple-vehicle crash. They found four vehicles involved in the crash, including Severson’s Chevrolet Malibu and a Saturn sedan, with multiple people injured and Kawino dead.

Witnesses told troopers the Chevrolet was traveling in the right lane and apparently did not see that the Saturn and two other vehicles had been stopped in traffic. The Chevrolet then crashed into the Saturn, causing a chain reaction crashing into the other two vehicles.

Severson told troopers she was changing from the left lane to the right and did not notice that traffic in the right land had stopped. She said she didn’t have time to stop the car and hit the Saturn from behind, the criminal complaint said.

The impact from the crash threw Kawino into the front area of the car, as he was not wearing a seat belt.

Severson and the others injured were taken to the hospital for treatment. Severson told authorities she was driving at about the speed limit of 55 mph. She denied using her phone, eating, drinking or listening to her radio at the time of the crash. She said her sunroof was open, creating a glare on the dashboard and slammed on her brakes as soon as she realized traffic had stopped in front of her.

Video footage from traffic management cameras showed Severson change lanes 20 seconds before the crash and that no “evasive action” to avoid the crash was seen. Data from her car concluded she was driving at about 70 mph seconds before the crash, 15 mph over the speed limit. It also indicated that she possibly tried to brake in the final half-second before the crash, but she still hit the Saturn at an impact of at least 59 mph.

No phone calls or messages were found on Severson’s phone from the minutes leading up to the crash. A Minnesota State Patrol crash reconstruction concluded that unless Severson intended to hit the other cars, “the only possible reason for (her) to fail to perceive the slower traffic would be from distraction,” the complaint said.

‘TRULY SORRY FOR MY ACTIONS’

Kawino’s parents and his three younger siblings sat in the courtroom on Monday, at times hugging and crying. His mother, brother and a sister wore a white t-shirt that included a photo of him and the words, “Fly High.”

Kawino’s mother, Elizabeth, told the court in a statement read by Ramsey County prosecutor Cory Tennison about how she shared a special bond with her first born. He loved her cooking and would rub his belly after tasting it.

Kawino’s sister Caroline told the court he was “someone I could look up to” and “one of my biggest champions. I miss him.”

Severson apologized to his family, saying through tears that she is “truly sorry for my actions.”

Tennison told the judge that what Severson did was a “horrific accident” and that the defense and prosecution put a lot of thought into the plea agreement.

“I hope this resolution is a measure of peace for this family,” Tennison said. “I am not going to pretend to fully comprehend their loss.”

Tennison said he hopes the case is a cautionary tale to other young drivers to “cut it out when it comes to distracted driving,” he said. “The potential consequences can be terrible.”

Related Articles