Driver charged with killing Uptown protester competent to stand trial

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The man charged with murder for driving into a protest, killing a woman and injuring three others in Uptown Minneapolis last June will stand trial in March after he was declared fit to stand trial.

The court ruled Nicholas Kraus, 35, competent to stand trial, which is set to begin March 21. 

NICHOLAS DAVID KRAUS (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office)

He has been charged with second-degree intentional murder and two counts of second-degree assault for the incident that resulted in the death of 31-year-old Deona Marie.

On the night of June 13, police say Kraus plowed his SUV through a protest at the intersection of West Lake Street and Girard Avenue South. The intersection had been blocked off by protesters after federal task force members shot and killed Winston Smith, a 32-year-old Black man.