Brother pleads guilty in deadly drag racing crash that killed couple in Burnsville

First trial starts for drag racing brother and sister charged in deadly Burnsville crash

The first of two trials in a deadly crash in Burnsville that authorities say was the result of a brother and sister drag racing on County Road 42 was underway on Wednesday.

BURNSVILLE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A month after his sister was convicted on charges in the deadly crash in Burnsville, a teen has pled guilty to murder charges in the drag racing crash that killed a couple in 2021.

Leon Bond pled guilty in Dakota County on Tuesday to two counts of murder in the third degree.

Leon Bond and his older sister Camille Dennis-Bond were reportedly drag racing down County Road 42, with speeds police say were exceeding 100 miles per hour, when Leon Bond's vehicle hit a car attempting to turn into a Caribou parking lot.

The impact of the high-speed crash ripped apart the vehicle carrying the victims, 22-year-old Tayler Garza and her boyfriend Dalton Ford. Both Garza and Ford were killed in the collision.

Dennis-Bond went to trial in December and was convicted on charges including third-degree murder. However, her brother was charged in juvenile court for the killings.

Prosecutors tried to have Leon Bond, who was just days away from his 18th birthday at the time of the crash, tried as an adult but were denied by a judge, who put the case in extended juvenile jurisdiction. That decision brought scrutiny from the victims' families, who felt Leon Bond should be held as culpable as his sister.

Leon Bond will be sentenced in juvenile court later this month. Dennis-Bond will be sentenced in front of a judge in March.