Derrick Thompson, son of a former Minnesota state representative John Thompson, has been charged with 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with a grisly crash that left five young women dead.
He was charged Thursday with two felony counts for each victims killed in the collision, the Star Tribune reported. Thompson is a accused of blowing through a red light and then broad-siding a sedan carrying Siham Adan Odhowa, 19, Sahra Liban Gesaade, 20, Sabiriin Mohamoud Ali, 17, Sagal Burhaan Hersi, 19, and Salma Mohamed Abdikadir, 20.
Their joint funeral, attended by more than 1,000 mourners, was held at Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center on Monday.
The women had been running errands together ahead of a friend’s wedding when the collision occurred on June 19. A state trooper initially spotted Thompson speeding on Interstate 35 shortly after 10 p.m. He flew off an exit ramp, raced through a red light at 95 mph and then slammed into the Civic before the officer was able to initiate a traffic stop, police said.
Thompson then attempted to flee on foot, but he was eventually caught by responding officers. He was then evaluated at a hospital and booked into jail on Monday.
A search of Thompson’s vehicle also turned up a Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun with live ammunition in the extended magazine in addition to drugs, including more than 2,000 pills, or 250 grams, that tested positive for fentanyl, 13 pills of MDMA and 35.6 grams of white powder that tested positive for cocaine.
Authorities believe the suspect was impaired at the time, though the results of her toxicology report are still pending.
Thompson’s father was booted from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party caucus in September 2021 after allegedly falsely accusing a police officer of racial profiling.