More than 2 months after being shot to death, man is charged with causing fatal crash in Roseville

A man suspected of causing a fatal highway crash in Rose­ville in May was charged this week, more than two months after he was shot to death.

Miguel V. Morales of St. Paul was charged Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the incident, which occurred on May 29 along Hwy. 36.

The crash killed 24-year-old Ahmed Mohamed Abdi of Minneapolis, who was thrown from the car onto the pavement and suffered traumatic head injuries as Morales and another passenger walked from the wreckage.

Morales was arrested at the scene, released pending further investigation and was shot on Sept. 30 in a north Minneapolis alley.

Authorities had issued a warrant for his arrest upon the charges being filed.

However, Roseville Deputy Police Chief Joe Adams said, the County Attorney's Office only learned Thursday that the man being sought was no longer alive.

"That is the world of police work," Adams said. "That case is resolved."

The man charged with shooting Morales, Derelle K. Todd of Minneapolis, is jailed on charges of second-degree murder and illegal gun possession. Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the killing.

According to the criminal complaint against Morales:

Witnesses said the car was heading east near Snelling Avenue "at a very high rate of speed and out of control," the charges read.

It swerved and crossed multiple lanes before driving onto the grassy median and hitting a guardrail and pole.

A State Patrol investigation determined the car's speed leading up to impact at "no less than 97 mph," the charges stated.

Morales initially told police that Abdi was driving before admitting that he was behind the wheel.

He said that he and the others in the vehicle had spent the previous two days participating in civil unrest in the Twin Cities before "finding" a vehicle in Minneapolis to drive around in while drinking alcohol and taking illicit drugs.

He said they were traveling on Hwy. 36 listening to music and "dancing" and that he felt "super drunk" before sideswiping another car and crashing.