Authorities Identify Drivers Suspected Of Causing Fatal Minnesota Crashes That Claimed 3 Lives

Undated (KROC-AM News)- Authorities are identifying two drivers suspected of causing a pair of recent fatalities on Minnesota roads that claimed the lives of three people combined. 

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One of the deadly crashes happened on Monday and other occurred over the past weekend. 

Law enforcement identified the suspects on Wednesday. One of the victims was a pedestrian and the two others died in a crash. 

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Suspected Impaired Driver of SUV Who Struck and Killed Pedestrian on Icy Minnesota Road Identified

The first of the two deadly incidents happened in Cass County on Dec. 14. 

Authorities say 34-year-old Jill Burnham was talking to the driver of a pickup parked along an icy rural road in the Brainerd area when she was hit by an SUV that lost control on the road. 

Read More: Officials Suspect Alcohol Involvement in Death of Pedestrian 

The Brainerd woman was taken to St. Cloud Hospital and later died of her injuries, according to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. 57-year-old Michael Kruse of Nisswa was identified as the driver that struck Burnham. 

Kruse was arrested on suspicion of DUI and charges are pending the result of a blood sample that deputies retrieved from him following the deadly incident. Cass County Jail records indicate he is not in custody 

Woman Arrested for Fatal Minneapolis Crash That Claimed Two Lives

In Minneapolis, police announced an arrest in connection to a deadly crash that occurred on Monday. 

A news release says 38-year-old Teniki L Steward was booked into the Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide on Tuesday after being released from a hospital. 

She’s suspected of causing a deadly two-vehicle collision around 10:20 Monday morning.

The crash investigation indicates Steward was driving a vehicle that struck another vehicle then veered off the road into a bus shelter following the collision. 

Two women were in the other vehicle. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has identified the women as 53-year-old Jean Ester Fulks of Minneapolis and 57-year-old Rose Elaine Reece of Minneapolis. 

Fulks died at the scene while Reece was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to the autopsies. A 17-year-old boy was also injured in the crash. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.