An Indiana driver who was high on cocaine when she caused a collision that killed a community advocate and artist was sentence to a year in the Hennepin County workhouse.
Nancy A. Scott of Michigan City, Ind., was sentenced in Hennepin County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death of Kirk Washington Jr., 41, of Minneapolis.
Washington was killed in the crash on eastbound Interstate 94 near Hwy. 280 during the evening commute on April 4, 2016. Scott recovered from critical injuries.
Judge Paul Scoggin's sentence stayed a four-year sentence for 10 years, during which Scott will be on probation. During those 10 years, Scott is prohibited from consuming alcohol or illicit drugs and needs to complete a chemical-dependency assessment.
Scott's vehicle was traveling 60 miles per hour before it went airborne and hit Washington's station wagon. His vehicle then struck a Metro Transit bus. Four riders suffered noncritical injuries.
As a teenager, Washington expressed himself through graffiti and then turned to the written word.
In a Facebook post after Washington's death, Mayor Betsy Hodges said the city had lost a great talent. Washington was among several poets who wrote a stanza for the poem "One Minneapolis: A City in Verse" for Hodges' 2014 inauguration.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
