Mankato driver charged with killing pedestrian while racing another driver files to enter guilty plea
Judge gavel, scales of justice and law books in court. (Brian A. Jackson/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
MANKATO, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Mankato woman who was charged with hitting and killing a pedestrian after racing with another motorist has entered a guilty plea.
According to court records, 19-year-old Kaylee Richmond filed a petition to enter a guilty plea on May 3 after she was charged with criminal vehicular homicide in August 2023.
If the guilty plea is accepted, Richmond will skip a jury trial and go straight to sentencing. As part of the guilty plea, the state will cap its sentencing request at 48 months (four years) in prison. The maximum the court could sentence Richmond is 57 months (about five years), the petition states.
READ MORE: Charges: Mankato driver kills pedestrian while racing another vehicle
Charges say on Aug. 14, 2023, around 9:30 p.m., Richmond was spotted "sobbing and hyperventilating" just south of the intersection of Madison Avenue and Hope Street in Mankato.
Richmond allegedly admitted to responding officers that she was racing another car eastbound on Madison Avenue in Mankato when she struck a pedestrian in the roadway, the charges said.
Richmond told police she was driving, stating that, "the other car should be in trouble too … He was trying to race me," and that, "I like going fast, and he was trying to race me." Richmond said she, "looked over at the other car she was racing, looked back and there was a ‘guy in front of me,’" charges state.
A reconstruction of the crash estimated that Richmond was traveling 70-75 mph based on the level of damage to her car and the severity and type of injuries the victim had. The speed limit on Madison Avenue is 35 mph.
Richmond's plea hearing is set for Tuesday, May 7.