Brooklyn Center mom charged in accident that led to drownings near highway ramp

A Brooklyn Center woman has been charged with three non-felony crimes for driving into a pond last year, an accident that killed two children and hospitalized three others.

A complaint against Marion Guerrido, 23, was filed Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court, charging her with two misdemeanor crimes and a petty misdemeanor, according to St. Louis Park city prosecutors.

In late March, the Hennepin County attorney's office declined to file felony charges against Guerrido. She was not drinking, speeding, using a cellphone or doing anything else that would have constituted a felony crime, County Attorney Mike Freeman has said.

A State Patrol reconstruction found that Guerrido apparently overcorrected.

She's charged with driving without meeting the requirements of a learner's permit, which would have required having a licensed driver with her, and driving without insurance. The misdemeanor crimes are punishable by up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.

She also was charged with failing to properly use child-restraint systems, a petty misdemeanor with an $80 fine.

Guerrido, who was charged by summons through the mail, could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

She veered off a ramp from westbound Hwy. 7 to northbound Hwy. 100 and plunged into a pond. She climbed out of the car uninjured and tried to rescue the children. But all five were submerged in the 9-foot-deep pond.

Drowned were Guerrido's 7-year-old son, Alarious Coleman-Guerrido, and Julius Rennie's 5-year-old daughter, Zen'Avia Rennie.

The first child was recovered about 25 minutes after neighbors summoned help, and the last child about 45 minutes later.

Attorney Rick Petry, a spokesman for families of the children, said the three surviving kids "look like they're going to come out of it," though it's a little early to tell if they will have long-term problems.

"It's a miracle," Petry said of their survival.