Woman found guilty in New Year's Day killing

A 22-year-old woman was found guilty Friday of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of her former boyfriend in north Minneapolis on New Year's Day.

A Hennepin County jury of four men and eight women voted to convict Danna Back on a reduced charge for her role in the shooting. Back had asked her new boyfriend Nicholas Super to drive her to the house that she had bought with her former boyfriend Danny Holliday in the 4800 block of Girard Avenue. N before they broke up. Holliday was killed by a single shot from a 40-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

Super, 21, faces two second-degree murder charges and is scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 8.

Back, of Minneapolis, originally faced two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder, but over the course of the trial those charges were dropped. Judge Margaret Daly granted a motion by prosecutor Deborah Russell for the jury to consider the manslaughter charge.

After the verdict, Russell said that Back had taken a risk by bringing Super to the house, "knowing that he had previously shot at the victim's garage and threatened to shoot him."

Bruce Rivers, Back's attorney, said after the verdict: "She didn't know that Nick [Super] had threatened the victim with a gun, and that evidence, in my opinion, was wrongly admitted into evidence." He said she did know that Super had shot at the garage.

Rivers said he had focused his defense on the more serious murder charges. After they were dropped, he said, he was not able to cross-examine witnesses on the elements of manslaughter, which requires proof of criminal negligence. He said that would be the basis of an appeal.

Back cried when the verdict was announced. Tom Dauer, of Brooklyn Park, Holliday's stepfather, burst into tears and hugged his wife, Holliday's mother, Heidi Dauer.

"Nick would have never been there if it was not for her," said Dauer afterward, referring to Back. "It was a dangerous game she was playing. Nick Super had a gun, and our son never had a gun."

Said Heidi Dauer, "If not for her, it never would have happened."

Back was taken into custody, and Daly scheduled her sentencing for Sept. 12.

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382 • rfurst@startribune.com

Rider on 3-wheeler wasn't wearing helmet

A man knocked unconscious and killed Thursday afternoon after losing control of his three-wheel vehicle on private property in Golden Valley was not wearing a helmet, police said Friday.

James Schemel, 49, of St. Louis Park, died from multiple blunt-force injuries, according to the Hennepin County medical examiner's offices.

Police were called to 8325 10th Av. N. about 3 p.m. and found Schemel unconscious. He could not be revived, and he died at the scene.

A small square plaque that says "Peace" and a bouquet of purple flowers sat Friday on top of the wall where the accident occurred.

Police Sgt. Kelly Blad said the vehicle looked like a motorcycle from the back and a go-cart from the front. One wheel hit a corner of a building, and the driver lost control and hit his head on a cement retaining wall, she said.

The accident remains under investigation.

JEANNINE AQUINO

Man dies after stabbing; suspect arrested

A man was fatally stabbed early Friday in the 1800 block of Park Avenue S., in Minneapolis, a police spokesman said. A suspect has been arrested.

Just before 3 a.m., police responded to a call and found the victim at a home. He died later at Hennepin County Medical Center.

His identity will be released later by the medical examiner.

Police arrested a 28-year-old suspect at the scene. He was being held in the Hennepin County jail.

MARIA BACA

Princeton man killed after wheel falls off car

A Princeton man was killed Thursday after a wheel came off his car, which veered off Hwy. 169 and rolled over in Sherburne County.

Jonathan J. Townsend, 18, was flown to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale after the crash at 9:10 a.m., according to the State Patrol.

He was going south on 169 at County Road 33 when a rear wheel came off his 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Townsend was not wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.

The wheel struck a car driven by Jody Kay Rebeck, 33, of Princeton, who was not hurt.

JOY POWELL

Eden Prairie boy killed crossing road is ID'd

A 6-year-old boy struck and killed by a small SUV Thursday night in Eden Prairie has been identified as Yasir Mohamed, police said.

The Eden Prairie boy was on his way to a soccer field with six to eight other children when he was hit at about 7 p.m., as he tried to cross Anderson Lakes Parkway at Chestnut Drive, said Sgt. Carter Staaf of the Eden Prairie Police Department. Police said he died of multiple blunt-force injuries.

It appeared Yasir started to walk across the intersection without looking both ways and was hit by a vehicle heading east on Anderson Lakes Parkway, Staaf said.

Sgt. Bob Olson said that there was no adult with the group of children at the time but that there were several adult witnesses.

The driver, a woman who was alone in the vehicle, was not taken into custody, Olson said.

He said he can't recall any recent instances of pedestrians being hit by cars in Eden Prairie. "I think it's absolutely a tragic accident that occurred," Olson said. "[The department's] heart goes out to the family of the victim."

JEANNINE AQUINO, TOM FORD