A Stearns County judge has found a 48-year-old Indiana man guilty of two felonies in the deaths of a Holdingford, Minn., woman and her unborn child in December 2018.

Casey Myers and her son Simon were killed when Corey W. Planck ran a stop sign at a four-way stop at Stearns County roads 4 and 133 in LeSauk Township. Myers was on her way to work at CentraCare, where she split time between the pediatric and adult rehabilitation departments.

Planck, of Star City, Ind., was headed to Amery, Wis., after unloading cargo in St. Joseph. He was listening to GPS through an ear piece and was on the phone with his supervisor when he missed the yellow warning sign, directional signs and the red stop sign, according to court documents.

Planck told police he didn't see the stop sign, and a crash reconstruction showed Planck didn't brake until he was in the intersection. Investigators found transponders mounted to Planck's window just right of the centerline, as well as illegal window tint. His logs reported 108 hours of downtime when there should have been 144, according to court documents.

Planck was charged in August 2019. He pleaded not guilty in January 2020 and waived his right to a jury trial. On July 19, Judge Nathaniel Welte convicted Planck on one count of criminal vehicular homicide for operating a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent manner and one count of criminal vehicular operation relating in the death of an unborn child.

Welte ruled the sole cause of the crash was distracted driving. Planck's sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 20.

Myers' parents, Pattie and Jeff Gunderson of Avon, said Wednesday the verdict brings relief, but added they're not sure anything will ever bring closure.

"Nothing will ever be the same again," Jeff Gunderson said.

"Life hasn't gone the way we thought it was going to, but you still move on, you still continue," Pattie Gunderson added. "It moves on. It just feels empty sometimes to not be able to share it with her."

The couple said their daughter had a kind heart and a mission to try to improve the lives of everyone around her.

"The day of her wake, the amount of people that showed up — I've never seen anything like that in my life," her mother said.

She said one story stood out. She said a man she didn't recognize approached her and told her he went to school with Myers.

"He said, 'I just needed to come because when I found out it was Casey, I needed to tell you guys what a wonderful person you raised,' " her mother said. "A lot of people bullied him and treated him badly in high school, and he said she was the one who was always nice to [him]. It made my heart full."

After Myers' death, her husband, Matt, and co-workers honored her by running as "Team Casey" in a local race and erecting a memorial bench at CentraCare Plaza. Her former classmates and friends are planning a memorial walk in Avon this September, Pattie said.

"I just like to hear the stories about Casey," Pattie Gunderson said. "Memories are what it's all about. You got to take those in because that's what keeps the family going."

Planck's attorney, Ken Wilson, said Wednesday that he plans to ask the court to depart from sentencing guidelines and request probation instead of prison.

"We understand where the judge is coming from. It's a really bad situation that could have been avoided," he said. [Planck] is really sorry for the pain he has caused the family. It wasn't something that was done intentionally."

Wilson said the county has since made changes to the intersection to make it safer.

"The ultimate tragedy happened," Wilson said. "It destroyed [Casey's family's] lives, but it also destroyed his."

Jenny Berg • 612-673-7299

Twitter: @bergjenny