22-year-old accused of ramming SUV into crowd in downtown Minneapolis charged with murder, assault
(KSTP) – Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on Tuesday announced charges in connection with a deadly hit-and-run crash that happened over the weekend in downtown Minneapolis.
Latalia Anjolie Margalli, 22, has been charged with second-degree murder and five counts of second-degree assault. She is accused of ramming an SUV through a crowd at the corner of 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue around 12:23 a.m. Saturday, killing 16-year-old De’Miaya Broome and injuring five others.
At a news conference Tuesday, Moriarty spoke about the dangers of reckless and drunken driving.
“Our office and community have seen far too many cases like this recently,” she said. “We’ve lost too many of our family members, friends and neighbors because people made the deadly choice to get behind the wheel of a car and dangerously.”
She added that Margalli’s conduct was egregious, noting that she drove into the crowd of people while many of the victims had their backs turned or were on the ground.
Public records show Margalli was driving with a suspended license and has had her license revoked several times.
Moriarty also referenced a news conference a few weeks ago in which she announced charges against Steven Bailey, who drove into the patio of Park Tavern on Sept. 1, killing two people and injuring nine.
Charging documents add that Margalli and her friends were fighting with Broome and her friends.
According to both witnesses and videos, during the fight, Margalli jumped into her SUV and started to reverse. Court documents state that she was driving so quickly she knocked her passenger to the ground with the passenger door, which was still open.
Seconds later, Margalli put the vehicle in drive and sped the wrong way down 5th Street, driving toward Broome, who was on the ground fighting. Prosecutors say Margalli drove into the crowd, hitting several people.
Broome died at the hospital, and the other five people had injuries ranging from bumps and bruises to broken legs and a head injury.
A witness said Margalli left the fight and went to her vehicle after one of the other people involved in the fight started spraying mace. She added that the group taunted Margalli and her friends for leaving the fight and that one of Margalli’s friends got out of the SUV to rejoin the fight. Margalli reportedly then got back into her SUV and drove into the crowd before fleeing the scene.
Another witness said he saw the SUV ram into the crowd and that Margalli “didn’t hit her brakes or nothing.”
According to court documents, one of the victims said Margalli threatened to shoot the group before getting her SUV.
Police were able to find Margalli shortly after the crash because a witness followed her.