Jury begins deliberating charges against man in fatal car crash

Not long before a jury in Ramsey County District Court began deliberating the charges against him, Tito F. Campbell took the stand in his own defense and quite clearly admitted he is guilty of several of the charges against him:

He drove drunk and way too fast, he said. He endangered his child. He sped through a red light at the top of the Larpenteur Avenue exit ramp off Interstate 35E. He collided with another vehicle, causing the death on April 18, 2009, of Soua Vang. Vang, 48, was riding in a car with her husband, Zong Xiong, who sustained a laceration to his scalp.

Campbell said he assumed a police officer who had been called by his ex-girlfriend would try to follow him after he fled her home in Roseville in her car. But, he said, he never saw or heard the lights and sirens of the squads trying to catch him.

He is charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle and causing a death; criminal vehicular homicide; first-degree drunken driving; fleeing a peace officer and causing substantial bodily harm; criminal vehicular operation causing substantial bodily harm or bodily harm; child endangerment, and driving after cancellation. The latter two charges are gross misdemeanors; the rest are felonies.

Campbell, 33, of Crystal, stifled sobs as he told his story. He and his 10-year-old son were at Amanda Mueller's apartment that day. The former couple got in a heated argument.

"My son, he was crying because of the words we were saying to each other," Campbell said under questioning from his attorney Monique Salvetti. "I wanted to leave. I didn't want him to be there."

He buckled his son into the front passenger seat and, as he was pulling out of the building's underground garage, he saw Mueller talking to a Roseville police officer.

"Basically I floored the car," he said. "I wanted to get out of the area before he [the officer] stopped me or saw where I went."

Campbell hopped on eastbound Hwy. 36, driving on the shoulder and passing other vehicles. He took southbound I-35E, again passing other vehicles on the shoulder. He wanted to get his son back to the boy's mother's home near Maryland Avenue E. and Rice Street, he said, but took the Larpenteur Avenue exit instead of the Maryland exit. At the top of the exit, he ignored the red light and collided with Xiong and Vang's car.

According to State Patrol Sgt. Paul Skoglund, an accident reconstructionist who downloaded data from the Chrysler's "black box," Campbell was going 76 miles per hour 2 seconds before the airbags deployed when the car collided with a traffic-light pole and 45 mph one-tenth of a second beforehand.

Vang had severe internal injuries including numerous rib fractures, a lacerated heart and liver and collapsed lung. She was pronounced dead at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Xiong was kept overnight at the hospital. Campbell and his son were treated for minor injuries and released.

Several Roseville police officers testified earlier this week that they pursued Campbell on Hwy. 36 and I-35E, but lost sight of him and broke off the chase because of the danger to other motorists. Moments later, they learned of the collision.

Under cross-examination, prosecutor Sarah Cory asked, "You drove in a way to make sure they didn't catch you?"

"I drove fast," he replied.

In her closing argument, Cory told the jury that the evidence proves all of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

"What happened April 18, 2009, was not an accident," she said. "It was completely avoidable."

Salvetti, however, said that every element of each charge must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Campbell had to have known that he was being pursued to be guilty of fleeing a peace officer, causing a death, and causing substantial bodily harm. She also questioned whether Xiong's injuries constituted substantial bodily harm. The laceration of Xiong's head was easily treated, she said.

On Tuesday, she produced medical records showing that Xiong had seen doctors for headaches, dizziness and weakness in his legs for 10 years. He also complained of those ailments after the crash.

After listening to three days of testimony, the jury began its deliberations just before 5 p.m. today. If they don't reach verdicts tonight, they will resume on Thursday.

Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992