A 58-year-old man has admitted that he was high on illicit drugs when his car slipped through a highway barrier and killed another motorist in a wrong-way collision in Edina.
Selmon D. Rogers, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court last week to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on Jan. 28, 2021, that killed Abdi A. Isack, 22, of North Mankato, Minn.
The plea deal with prosecutors calls for Rogers to receive a sentence of five years and seven months. With credit for time in jail since his arrest in April, he can expect to serve the first three years and six months in prison and the balance on supervised release.
At the time of the crash, Rogers was driving with a suspended license and was on 25 years' probation because of a felony drug-dealing conviction in October 2019 in Clay County. Judge Michael Fritz set aside a nearly five-year sentence in that case on condition that Rogers stay away from illicit drugs.
His criminal history in Minnesota also includes convictions for check forgery and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Rogers was heading north on Hwy. 169 near the Bren Road exit about 2:40 p.m., when he crossed "through the opening between the barriers" and collided head-on with Isack's car, the criminal complaint read.
A State Patrol investigation concluded that Rogers failed to take any evasive or corrective action before the collision.
Another motorist told troopers that he was in front of Isack's car and swerved out of the way to avoid the wrong-way SUV. That meant Isack's car "received the brunt of it," the complaint quoted the motorist as saying.
