Charges filed in death of pregnant woman who predicted her fate

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Jamie Baer's daughter, Angel.

She sent text messages moments before the accident.

By GREGORY A. PATTERSON, Star Tribune

Last update: April 3, 2009 - 12:13 AM

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In the final moments before the accident that took Jamie Baer's life, the 22-year-old cosmetologist frantically text- messaged friends: "I'm going 160 w a drunk drive m going to die."

On Thursday, the car's driver, Frank Tregoning, 21, of Otsego, faced a host of felony charges in Hennepin County District Court, including criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation.

Judge Cara Lee Neville set Tregoning's bail at $100,000. Witnesses to the Aug. 21 accident told police that Tregoning's car was traveling at more than 100 miles per hour, eastbound on Interstate 94 near Hwy. 101 east of Rogers, when it rolled over about a dozen times and ended upside down 75 feet off the highway.

According to the criminal complaint, Baer, who was texting from the back seat, and her friend, Kelsey Palmer, who was in the front, both had to be cut out of their seat belts. Tregoning, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle.

Palmer and Tregoning survived, but Baer was critically injured and later died.

"I was satisfied," with the bond, said Scott Baer, Jamie Baer's father. Baer and Jamie's mother, Kari Palashewski, were among about a dozen family members who attended the initial hearing Thursday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis.

Fallout from the incident continues to affect the family. Angel, Jamie Baer's baby, was delivered by caesarian the night of the accident only hours before Jamie died, and she remains in poor health.

"We've been trying to wean her off of oxygen," but with no luck so far, said Palashewski, who has custody of Angel. "We've been locked in the house since November 25th," when Angel came home from the hospital, Palashewski said.

According to the complaint, Angel, who is now 7 months old and weighs 11 pounds, continues to suffer complications from the crash and her premature birth, including a cranial deformity, obstructive pulmonary disease and an underdeveloped heart valve. Alarms go off during the night when her breathing stops or her blood oxygen level drops, Palashewski said.

Considering the devastation of the accident, Scott Baer said he expected a tougher, meaner man at Tregoning's hearing Thursday.

"This was the first time I've seen him," Baer said. "I thought he would be big, mean and ugly. But he's just a regular guy. He's just a kid who's made a bad mistake, and he will have to pay for it."

His wasn't the only mistake, according to Tregoning's attorney. "They were all just as drunk as my client," said Craig Cascarano, Tregoning's attorney.

State Patrol investigators said they detected alcohol on all three people in the car.

The charges say that Tregoning's blood-alcohol content soon after the crash was 0.1 percent, above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Testing at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale also found morphine and THC (the psychoactive substance in marijuana) in his system.

Cascarano objected to the police arrest of Tregoning at work on Wednesday, saying his client has been in touch with prosecutors for several months and would have surrendered. Tregoning had been working a full-time job, has no prior record and likely won't be able to afford bail, Cascarano said. A handful of his relatives attended the hearing, but declined to comment.

But Todd Palashewski, Kari's husband, said Tregoning has shown no sorrow or remorse at his actions. "Nothing, not even an I'm sorry," has been heard from him, Todd Palashewski said. "We just want him to realize what he's done to a lot of people's lives."

Gregory A. Patterson • 612-673-7287