Car crashes happen. It is a terrible truth of life on the road. However, a crash does not excuse reckless disregard for the lives of other drivers. There is just no reason to fly through an intersection at 100 mph, collide with another vehicle, and then abandon the scene. But that didn’t stop the son of a Minnesota lawmaker from committing a heinous hit-and-run, which killed five people.
A court in Minnesota convicted Derrick Thompson of the hit-and-run killing of five women in Minneapolis
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Derrick John Thompson, the son of former Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) lawmaker John Thompson, is charged with five counts of third-degree murder for a 2023 crash in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 29-year-old motorist apparently went through a red light and collided with a Honda Civic carrying five people: four adult Somali women and a 17-year-old.
Tragically, all five of the vehicle’s occupants died on the scene of the accident. If the 100-mph collision wasn’t enough, his giant SUV was significantly heavier than the ill-fated Civic. The curb weight of a 2023 Cadillac Escalade is around 6,300 pounds. The Honda Civic, on the other hand, weighs around 3,000 pounds. Even with a five-star NHTSA crash safety rating, a Civic cannot prevent a forceful collision with a considerably bigger car.
However, the crash was insufficient to halt Thompson’s escape attempt. He exited his Escalade and tried to leave on foot. Thompson, fortunately, did not get very far. Police caught up with the fleeing criminal and nabbed him shortly after he abandoned his destroyed vehicle.
Nearly two years later, a jury convicted Thompson of the killings. Thompson was convicted of five charges of third-degree murder. Additionally, the jury found him guilty of ten counts of vehicular murder and hit-and-run offenses. Tragically, Thompson has committed this heinous act before.
Thompson had a previous felony conviction for a hit-and-run accident in California. In this recent example, the driver neglected to stop and assist the occupants of the other vehicle. Although it is unlikely to bring any closure to the relatives of the deceased, lawmakers are confident that Thompson will be unable to repeat similar atrocities in the future.
“Mr. Thompson is being held accountable, and we will do everything possible to ensure that he never does this again,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty stated of the case, according to Hiiraan. Thompson hopes to never drive again. That is, once he regains his sense of clarity.
