Charges: Driver purposely hit 4 in Minneapolis crosswalks, with one dragged and killed

An unlicensed driver purposely hit four pedestrians in crosswalks in two back-to-back crashes in south Minneapolis, and one of her victims was dragged beneath the vehicle and suffered fatal injuries, according to murder and assault charges filed Monday.

Sophia Elizabeth Sullivan, 38, was charged initially on Friday in Hennepin County District Court with four counts each of criminal vehicular operation and second-degree assault, and one count of first-degree assault in connection with the incidents that took place early Wednesday evening.

After one victim died two days after the crash, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office amended the charges to one count of intentional second-degree murder and three counts each of intentional attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

Sullivan was arrested shortly after the incidents at her home near the scene of the second crash and remained jailed Monday in lieu of $2 million bail. She appeared in court Monday afternoon and has another hearing scheduled for June 3. A message was left with her attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

The charges did not offer a motive or say whether Sullivan knew any of the victims. Officials have not released the identities of the victims.

At the time of the crashes, Sullivan was driving even though her license had been revoked. She has not had a valid license for nearly a decade, a state Department of Public Safety spokesman said Monday.

There have now been seven homicides in Minneapolis since last Tuesday, bringing this year’s total to 18. There were 21 homicides in the city at this time last year.

A woman in her 40s and a teenage girl told police they were at the intersection of West 26th Street and Grand Avenue South and entered the crosswalk after the traffic light turned green for them. A car ran the light, hit both of them and drove off.

Both were taken to HCMC. One of the females suffered a head injury, while the other had “minor burn marks caused by contact with the concrete” and some bleeding, the charges read.

About five minutes later and a half-mile to the west, Sullivan stopped her car momentarily, then drove alongside a man and a woman in their 30s walking on a sidewalk. She then sped up and hit both of them once they entered the crosswalk at Emerson Avenue South.

Sullivan’s car “accelerated to a high speed and plowed directly into them,” the criminal complaint read, based on video from the area.

One victim was thrown 30 feet and landed next to a parked vehicle.

Sullivan then ran over the woman and “continued to drive down the road, dragging [the female] under the car” for about 40 yards, the court documents noted. “[Sullivan] eventually started swerving to the left and right, then turned into a parking lot, causing [the woman] to come out from under the car. [Sullivan] then appeared to run over her with the rear tires.”

Thanks to surveillance video, officers quickly caught up with Sullivan at her home that night and arrested her. Her car was parked outside. It was heavily damaged and appeared to have blood on it.

Sullivan acknowledged driving the car within the time when the crashes occurred.

Both victims in the second incident were taken by emergency medical responders to HCMC. The female suffered numerous injuries, and she died Friday, said police Sgt. Garrett Parten.