100 MPH Alcohol-Involved Fatal Pile-Up Sends MN Man to Prison
Minneapolis, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Minnesota man has been sent to prison for an alcohol- and drug-involved crash last year that killed one person and injured 10 others.
The deadly seven-vehicle pileup occurred around 9:15 p.m. on October 23, 2024, on I-94 in Minneapolis. According to the criminal complaint against 30-year-old Talon Covie-Caldrell Walker, he was driving a pickup that sideswiped an SUV before crashing into the back of a Jeep Cherokee. Witnesses told investigators that the St. Paul man was speeding at approximately 100 mph at the time of the crash.
Witnesses reported that he was speeding at about 100 mph
The court document says the collision with the Jeep triggered a chain-reaction crash involving four additional vehicles. It also indicates that the force of the collisions caused two of the cars involved to be pushed 180 degrees sideways.
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The criminal complaint says the State Patrol reported that the driver of the Jeep Cherokee, 26-year-old Natalie Gubbay of Minneapolis, suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene. The State Patrol also reported that a passenger in Covie-Caldrell Walker’s vehicle was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Multi-Vehicle Pileup Claimed One Life
Nine other people, including Covie-Caldrell Walker and a 2-year-old boy, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The State Patrol says the injuries sustained by Covie-Caldrell Walker, the young boy, and four other people were serious enough to require medical care at a hospital.
The charging document in the case also indicates that State Troopers found a partially opened bottle of liquor on the driver’s side of the vehicle that Covie-Caldrell Walker was driving. Further testing put his blood alcohol concentration at .093 and also detected fentanyl and marijuana.
The criminal complaint lists 9 felony charges
He was charged with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide, six felony counts of criminal vehicular operation, five gross misdemeanor counts of criminal vehicular operation, and gross misdemeanor DWI. Court records show that he entered into a plea agreement in August and admitted to one count of criminal vehicular homicide and two of the felony criminal vehicular operation charges.
Covie-Caldrell Walker was sentenced Thursday afternoon to a total of 10 years in prison, which is an upward departure from state sentencing guidelines. He was given credit for the 344 days he has spent in jail since his arrest.
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