A 24-year-old woman was charged Tuesday with running over another woman over the weekend in a downtown Minneapolis parking lot and dragging her victim with the car until crashing into another vehicle.

The victim, Miera L. Horton, 26, of Minneapolis, remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon at Hennepin County Medical Center with severe damage to vital organs and numerous broken bones.

Vanessa I. Uzong, of Minneapolis, was charged with first-degree assault and jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail. Uzong is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

The parking lot incident, which grew out of a dispute between two groups of people about 1 a.m. Saturday, came just minutes after one woman shot and killed another woman in the nearby Augie's strip club. The people in the parking lot altercation had just been hustled out of Augie's after the shooting. Police have said the two crimes are not otherwise connected.

One witness told police that he intervened between the two women and their friends earlier, according to the criminal complaint. Later in the parking lot, the witness continued, Uzong "swerved and intentionally struck" Horton.

Horton was dragged until Uzong's car struck another vehicle, the complaint continued. Police say Uzong admitted to police at the scene that she was the driver.

A friend who was with Horton said they both moved as Uzong's vehicle accelerated toward them, the charging document read.

The complaint did not elaborate on the nature of the difficulties between Horton and Uzong.

A relative of the defendant said the clash leading up to Horton being run over had left Uzong with a bloodied mouth and missing tooth. Uzong "was in a state of shock," said the relative, who asked not to be identified out of concern for her safety and others in the family.

Horton's mother, Demellon Horton, said her daughter suffered a lacerated liver and a punctured lung, along with broken ribs, a shattered pelvis and fractured limbs.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482