A motorist who had just hung up her cellphone admitted in court on Monday to hitting and killing a pedestrian while driving on Grand Avenue in St. Paul last year.

Allissa Lynn Anderson, 31, of Eagan pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to a misdemeanor count of duty to drive with due care, speed greater than reasonable, in connection with the Nov. 9 crash that killed Emma Holman, 24, of Bloomington.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 30.

Many careless drivers in Minnesota who kill someone end up facing misdemeanor charges because a felony charge requires proof that they acted in an extremely dangerous manner.

According to the charges, Anderson was driving her SUV east on Grand near Hamline Avenue after dark when she struck Holman. Police said Holman was not crossing at a street corner.

Anderson told police she was driving between 31 and 40 miles per hour in the 30-mph zone and had been talking to a friend on her cellphone, the charges said.

She said she had looked down as she finished the call, put the phone in her lap and hit Holman just as she looked up and did not have time to apply the brakes, the charges said.

PAUL WALSH