Prosecutors: Minnesota man, 19, was cautioned not to drive drunk before he caused fatal crash

A 19-year-old man was cautioned not to drive drunk before he got behind the wheel, crashed into a power pole and killed his passenger, according to charges filed this week in Meeker County.

Elijah Michael Miller of Cokato, Minn., was charged in District Court on Feb. 9 with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the wreck in August that killed 19-year-old Nolan Henke of Dassel.

Miller was charged by summons and is due in court on March 31. The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to Miller for a response to the allegations.

According to the criminal complaint:

A 911 call shortly after 3 a.m. on Aug. 24 sent sheriff’s deputies to the crash scene near the intersection of County Road 6 and 746th Avenue, where they saw a car in the ditch.

Emergency responders removed Henke from the car and declared him dead from significant head injuries.

Miller was taken from the scene by air ambulance to HCMC with critical injuries. Law enforcement collected a blood sample from Miller for testing and measured his blood alcohol content at 0.09%. The legal age for drinking alcohol in Minnesota is 21.

A girl told law enforcement that Miller and Henke arrived at her home about 12:30 that morning. Miller told the girl that he had been drinking. She saw that his speech was slurred, and he was unsteady on his feet.

Miller drank more at the girl’s home, then said he was leaving with Henke.

The girl “suggested [Miller] should not drive,” but the two left in Miller’s vehicle about 3 a.m., moments before the crash, the charges read.

Henke was a 2025 graduate of Dassel-Cokato High School, where a booster club described him as “a beast on that field, and he loved DC football.”